Toward lead-free piezoelectrics: KNN-based ceramic demonstrates enhanced electrical properties thanks to two-step sintering process

Awareness of lead’s toxicity drives research on alternative lead-free piezoelectric materials. But traditional high-temperature sintering processes can inadvertently deteriorate a lead-free ceramic’s piezoelectric response. A two-step sintering process can minimize this deterioration, and researchers in China identified the optimum temperature and dwell time for the first step.

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Video: ‘Invisible’ solar roof tiles bring sustainable technology to historical sites

Implementing new sustainable materials and technologies into designated historical sites is complicated by the need to preserve the area’s historical nature. In Italy, managers of a project to improve the safety of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii worked with the owners of a small family-run business to install solar panels that blend into the ancient city’s traditional buildings.

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Preserving photographic plates—the potential role of glass alteration in gelatin delamination

The Animal Locomotion series by Eadweard Muybridge is a set of glass photographic plates that are widely regarded as the immediate predecessor to the development of motion pictures. Researchers from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute investigated how formation of an amorphous surface layer on the glass plates due to water exposure can impact delamination of the image-containing gelatin layer.

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