Processing

Flowerpot like ceramic filters purify water for drinking, cooking

By Eileen De Guire / February 12, 2013

James Smith discusses PureMadi and MadiDrops—porous clay water purification systems—how they work and the hopes behind it. Credit: UVA, YouTube. Access to potable water is a priority of the World…

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A promising way to make nanoporous molybdenum nitride supercapacitor electrodes

By Eileen De Guire / February 9, 2013

Molybdenum nitride made from molybdenum oxide shows promise as a supercapacitor electrode material. TEM image of MoO3 single crystal nanowires (top). TEM image of mesoporous, single crystal Mo3N2 (bottom). Credit:…

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Crocodile scale formation—more materials science than biology

By / February 1, 2013

Crocodile skin sections (left) indicate that cracks correspond to epidermal bulges that reach the stiff underlying tissues. Immunohistochemistry (right) indicates increased cell proliferation (green) within the skin grooves corresponding to…

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ICACC’13 Photoblog #2 from Daytona Beach

By / January 29, 2013

2013 Program Chair Sujanto Widjaja opens the ICACC’13 Plenary Session. Credit: ACerS. The first “business” day of the ICACC’13 meeting plenary and award speakers (plus the awarding of the best…

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Europe expanding strategic focus on graphene in big way

By / January 25, 2013

Two new developments and announcements related to graphene research indicate that the European region is more than ever committed to major R&D work with the extraordinary material. The first development…

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CIGS solar cells from Empa break efficiency record

By / January 25, 2013

High-efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells developed at Empa. Credit: Empa. (From Materials Views) Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin film solar…

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New Critical Materials Hub to take broad approach to rare earths, other strategic materials

By / January 17, 2013

The launch of the DOE’s $120 million Critical Materials Institute (nee “Hub”), the fifth energy innovation-oriented “integrated research center” initiated by the Obama administration, strikes me as mainly a balanced…

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Ceramics and the $148 billion ethylene industry

By Eileen De Guire / January 14, 2013

Dow Chemical production plant in Freeport, Texas. The company plans to build an new ethylene production plant in Freeport by 2017. Credit: Dow Chemical Co. Last week I told you…

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Access open to JACerS’ article on ceramic grand challenges; new workshop will explore multidisciplinary aspects of ‘materials by design’

By Eileen De Guire / January 8, 2013

Ceramic researchers at a workshop last March to identify the grand challenges of ceramic science. Their findings were published in an open access article in the December 2012 JACerS. Credit:…

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Gorilla Glass 3 explained (and it is a modeling first for Corning!)

By / January 7, 2013

Credit: Corning; YouTube. [updated with link to Corning’s new GG3 product information sheet] Among techies (amateur and professional), Gorilla Glass has developed a cult following. Even my barber, who was…

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