Ceramics and ceramists on the Manhattan Project: A narrative of activities at MIT

There are many hidden stories of the people who worked on the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the world’s first atomic bombs. In 1990, the late ACerS Fellows Osgood J. Whittemore and Louis R. McCreight published an article uncovering some of this history by describing research conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop refractory crucibles for nuclear metals processing.

Read More

New framework strengthens link between a ceramic’s structural hierarchy and its properties

Materials scientists often use grain size as the determining variable when correlating a ceramic’s structure with its properties. But the morphology and orientation of the grains can also significantly affect a material’s properties. Researchers in China developed a framework that can correlate a material’s structural hierarchy with its properties, and their latest paper explores the potential of linking this framework to Vickers hardness.

Read More

The ‘very important role’ of ceramics in energy on full display at MCARE/EHS 2023

The combined Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy and Energy Harvesting Society meeting took place Aug. 21–24, 2023, in Bellevue, Wash. Almost 170 attendees from 16 countries attended the conference to participate in cross-border discussions on overcoming the many materials and process-related challenges in the transition to a sustainable energy future.

Read More

Optimized tape casting process creates lithium metazirconate thin films for use as solid-state electrolytes

Lithium metazirconate (LZO) has demonstrated promise as an electrode coating in solid-state batteries, and some researchers are exploring the use of LZO as a solid-state electrolyte itself. However, to date, all electrochemical testing on LZO for this application has been performed on pressed discs rather than thin films. Researchers in Argentina and Spain developed an aqueous forming route to obtain LZO films by tape casting.

Read More

Training the next generation of builders—first large-scale construction 3D printer in the Buckeye State arrives at OSU

Further expanding the use of 3D printing in construction will require training the next generation of builders on these techniques. A new research partnership between The Ohio State University and 3D-printing construction company Pantheon Innovative Builders will help provide this training through use of COBOD International’s construction-grade BOD2 printer.

Read More