Characterization

Custom silica, silica-titania inks offer new possibilities for 3-D-printed optical glass

By Faye Oney / April 6, 2018

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have broken the “3-D printed glass barrier” by developing a direct ink writing method to 3-D print optical glass that uses silica and silica titania from sol-gel.

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Busted: Monk uses needle to break, but not bust through, piece of glass

By April Gocha / April 5, 2018

There’s been a video circling around online this past month of a Shaolin monk throwing a needle at a pane of glass, breaking the glass with its tiny point—but I have a gripe with the video and all the hype swirling around it.

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Video: Making sense of data—Research initiative aims to bridge human–data disconnect

By April Gocha / April 4, 2018

In an effort to develop more intelligent data analysis to drive informed nanomaterials design, a unique research initiative at Lehigh University is taking the human element into account in its quest to evolve how we analyze data.

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optical lenses

3-D printing high-quality, low-cost optical lenses in under four hours

By Faye Oney / April 3, 2018

A research team developed a 3-D printing process to make a high-quality, low-cost optical lens that could be fabricated a lot quicker than conventional methods and used in a number of applications for the optical and medical industries.

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Additive manufacturing reaches new dimensions for bulk metallic glasses

By April Gocha / March 30, 2018

Researchers at North Carolina State University (Raleigh, N.C.) have now broken the critical casting thickness—the previous maximum possible size—for fabricating bulk metallic glass by using laser-based powder bed additive manufacturing.

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Zeolite filter removes potentially dangerous compounds while retaining the flavor of smoked foods

By April Gocha / March 27, 2018

Researchers from the University of Reading in the U.K. report that they have devised and tested a zeolite filter that can significantly reduce the presence of carcinogens yet preserve that delicious flavor of smoked foods.

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Video: Laboratory drama unfolds the high-suspense thrill of edge thin-film testing

By April Gocha / March 21, 2018

Analytical materials characterization company MSE Supplies can relate to the high-suspense drama of getting experimental data—the company recently published a short video that hilariously brings this lab-turned-movie-set situation to life.

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What can carbon do for you do? Graphene’s next big application could be as hair dye

By April Gocha / March 20, 2018

Researchers at Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) recently demonstrated graphene’s potential as a hair dye that is easily applied, resists washing out, and is much less toxic than current hair coloring methods.

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Ceramics in the semiconductor industry and more inside April 2018 ACerS Bulletin, now available online

By April Gocha / March 15, 2018

The April 2018 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring articles about ceramics in the semiconductor industry, refractory firebricks for energy storage, high-temperature furnace coatings, ceramic proppant supply, and additive manufacturing at Ceramics Expo 2018—is now available online.

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New materials for flexible electronics: Deposition technique bends possibilities with MXene thin films

By April Gocha / March 13, 2018

A team of scientists from Texas A&M University has developed an aqueous deposition technique to build flexible MXene thin films that could enable new possibilities for future flexible electronics.

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