Thermal management

Aerobricks combine aerogel with brick to form energy-saving, super insulating building material

By April Gocha / January 23, 2018

Researchers at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed better insulating building materials called “Aerobricks”—bricks with internal cavities filled with aerogel granules.

Read More

Video: Solidia Technologies cement cuts emissions and enables concrete that soaks up carbon dioxide too

By April Gocha / January 10, 2018

Solidia Technologies is founded on the concept of using eco-friendly processing techniques to drastically lower the carbon footprint of concrete—watch this video to see how the company makes its carbon-dioxide-absorbing concrete blocks.

Read More

One flash spark plasma sintering to rule them all: Technique can densify most materials in mere seconds

By April Gocha / December 8, 2017

Researchers at San Diego State University have developed a flash spark plasma sintering technique that can densify all kinds of materials, regardless of their electrical conductivity, in a matter of just seconds.

Read More

Membrane system converts carbon dioxide into fuel, chemical feedstocks

By Faye Oney / December 1, 2017

A research duo has developed a system for converting CO2 emissions from power plants into fuel for cars, trucks, and planes. Their process could also provide an additional revenue stream to offset costs.

Read More

Video: Building better lithium-ion batteries by blowing them up

By April Gocha / November 1, 2017

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are developing technology to improve the thermal performance of lithium-ion batteries. And that all starts with studying how batteries fail.

Read More

Ceramic pump operates at 2,552ºF for thermal energy conversion

By Faye Oney / October 24, 2017

Researchers built the first ceramic pump that can transfer liquid metals up to 1,673 Kelvin (2,552ºF). The pump could be used for renewable energy storage, producing hydrogen from methane without releasing CO2, and to develop new types of batteries.

Read More

Water assists flash sintering to densify ceramic to 98% theoretical density in just 30 seconds

By April Gocha / September 19, 2017

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a method called water-assisted flash sintering that can densify powders to 98% of theoretical density in just 30 seconds. Their method takes place at room temperature and requires no external heating.

Read More

Celebrating ACerS 2017 awards and honors, plus more inside September ACerS Bulletin

By April Gocha / August 17, 2017

The September 2017 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring ACerS 2017 class of awards, an interagency report on ceramic coatings to improve engine efficiency, and a novel bauxite porcelain microstructure for high-voltage insulation—is now available online.

Read More

Video: Engineering the world’s most super-soaking, 7-foot-long water gun

By April Gocha / July 26, 2017

In a recent video, engineer Mark Rober demonstrated the amazing super-soaking power of the world’s largest water gun, a monster 7-foot-long creation that he engineered in the likeness of a Super Soaker (Larami Ltd.) to blast water out at a whopping 272 mph.

Read More

Controlled spalling fabricates thin films of gallium nitride and could drastically change semiconductor industry

By April Gocha / July 18, 2017

IBM scientists report that they have developed a simple technique to peel extremely thin layers of gallium nitride from a bulk wafer of the material—a breakthrough in manufacturing techniques for this expensive material.

Read More