Processing

Reducing the environmental impacts of MXene synthesis: Life cycle assessment and production guide offer tips

By Lisa McDonald / September 15, 2023

Despite the meteoric rise of MXenes from discovery to commercial products in only a decade, the environmental impacts of MXene synthesis have not been assessed systematically. ACerS member Babak Anasori helped lead two recent studies that provided a life cycle assessment and step-by-step guide for synthesizing Ti3C2Tx MXenes, respectively.

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Compliant combustion: Nanocoating offers new way to control ‘runaway’ thermal reactions

By Lisa McDonald / September 8, 2023

Current methods for controlling “runaway” thermal reactions such as combustion and pyrolysis remain rather rudimentary. Researchers led by North Carolina State University developed a new nanocoating that, when applied to a material before combustion, allows for the reaction rate and direction of ignition propagation to be controlled.

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

By Lisa McDonald / August 29, 2023

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.

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Introduction to “Porous ceramics” for ACT @ 20

By Jonathon Foreman / August 23, 2023

To celebrate the milestone of the 20th volume of the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, the editorial team assembled a selection of journal papers representing the excellent work from the advanced ceramics community. The focus this month is porous ceramics.

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Foiled no more: A review of advancements in producing carbon nanotubes on flexible metal substrates

By Lisa McDonald / August 8, 2023

Growing carbon nanotubes on metal foils rather than traditional silicon or quartz substrates would allow the process to be easily integrated into large-scale manufacturing processes. But metal foils present other challenges, such as reactivity at high temperatures. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers published a review paper summarizing efforts to overcome these challenges.

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High-throughput automated testing platform saves time and energy by placing dozens of samples on same substrate

By Lisa McDonald / July 28, 2023

Automating experiments can help speed up the materials development process. Researchers led by North Carolina State University developed a new high-throughput automated testing system that deposits multiple samples on the same substrate, thus saving time and energy.

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Hands-free defect engineering: Electric fields control motion of ceramic dislocations without need for mechanical loading

By Lisa McDonald / July 25, 2023

While some studies have demonstrated that electric fields and light exposure can affect the motion of dislocations in ceramics, the principal driving force of motion in these cases was mechanical stress. Now, an international group of researchers showed dislocation motion in a single-crystalline zinc sulfide can be controlled using only an external electric field.

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Balancing cost and quality—tradeoffs of creating all-oxide CMCs from fiber bundles with higher filament counts

By Lisa McDonald / June 30, 2023

Balancing cost and quality is an important consideration for manufacturers and researchers looking to commercialize their innovations. Researchers in Germany explored the tradeoffs that come with creating all-oxide ceramic matrix composites from fiber bundles with higher filament counts.

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Maximizing resource use—modified starch aids in selective separation of feldspar and quartz from tailings

By Lisa McDonald / June 27, 2023

Instead of open-pit mines, tailings may become the primary source of feldspar and quartz in the future if the minerals can be selectively extracted from the waste. Researchers in China showed that hydroxypropyl starch can improve the flotation separation of feldspar and quartz.

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Molten salt electrochemical synthesis could improve sustainability of white phosphorus production

By Lisa McDonald / April 18, 2023

White phosphorus is a synthetic form of phosphorus used to produce many commodity chemicals. But the conventional process for producing white phosphorus has a high carbon footprint. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a molten salt synthesis process for white phosphorus production that is more cost effective and environmentally friendly.

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