Experts at Purdue University say the United States could cut its total energy consumption and related carbon emissions by approximately 10 percent through the broad adoption of light-emitting diode technology. Known to be about four times more efficient than incandescent lights, one LED “negative” has prevented the technology’s widespread domestic use: prohibitive cost. LEDs are “at least 20 times” more…
Read MoreResearchers led by John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have developed a new form of flexible, stretchable silicon integrated circuit. Not only can these new silicon circuits wrap around complex shapes, but they can do so without sacrificing electrical performance while stretching, compressing and folding…
Read MoreBack in April, ACerS’ magazine, the Bulletin, announced that the Imperial College (U.K.) was establishing a Structural Ceramic Center funded at £6 million over a five-year period by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Science and Innovation Award. The Center is being directed by Bill Lee, a professor at Imperial College and head of…
Read MoreThe DuPont/Smart Fuel Cell Team came out the million-dollar winner Oct. 8 in the Department of Defense’s Wearable Power Prize competition. DuPont is based in Delaware and SFC is headquartered in Brunnthal, Germany. DuPont has a minority stake in SFC and the group’s methanol-powered pack actually began to be deployed among combatants this summer: “Our…
Read MoreAs part of The American Ceramic Society’s recently concluded 110th Anniversary Celebration, the Society identified the 11 best papers published by ACerS to commemorate the 11 decades that ACerS has continually operated. A total of 171 papers from Journal of the American Ceramic Society and International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology were considered in the…
Read MoreMy neighbor recently picked up a couple of “solar” outdoor planters/urns at a discount center. What’s a solar urn? Turns out that each urn has about six tiny LEDs around its rim that are visible at nighttime, and each had a little external solar panel that could be plugged in to charge the urn’s batteries.…
Read MoreResearchers, entrepreneurs, students, professors, business people – MS&T is the place for the latest buzz on materials applications, innovation, supplies and production. Seriously. The dates are Oct 5-9 and the place is Pittsburgh. The deadline for registration is coming up very quickly, so put down the cup-o-joe and click on that MS&T’08 box on the…
Read MoreWater contaminated in nuclear power applications and other situations where radiactive elements used can be a significant problems, especially because of the volume compared to the actual amount of radiactive particles. What if there was a fairly simple way to run the water through a filter and remove those materials? Queensland University of Technology’s Zhu…
Read MoreASTM International has issued a new global standard to address the use of honeycomb ceramics in automotive catalytic converters, diesel particulate filters and combustion burner plates. The standard, ASTM C1674, Test Method for Flexural Strength of Advanced Ceramics with Engineered Porosity (Honeycomb Cellular Channels) at Ambient Temperatures, has been developed by group’s Subcommittee C28.04 on Applications,…
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Researchers at MIT (see post below) have developed a novel way to concentrate sunlight for solar cells that doesn’t involve mirrors and tracking mechanisms. They use a system of glass and coatings to guide and collect light at the edges of the pane where solar cells can be positioned. Team leader Marco Baldo explains their…
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