Bulletin-May16-Cover

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The May issue of the ACerS Bulletin is now available online.

May’s cover story is all about ancient artifacts. Authors Jamie Weaver, John McCloy, Joseph Ryan, and Albert Kruger detail how the study of artifacts can inform scientists about more than just past cultures—perhaps surprisingly, these materials also can help predict the behavior of vitrified nuclear wastes. The article details how various ancient glass artifacts provide useful analogues to study how glass alters over time, offering an unexpected source of data to predict and design new glasses for storage of nuclear waste.

The new issue also features a story by Steve Bull that delves into assessment of the mechanical behavior of thin coatings on architectural glass. As Bull explains, glass coatings can increase the energy efficiency of this widely utilized building material—but improving the performance of glass glazing requires a thorough understanding of how the multilayer coatings behave. Although measuring the properties of such thin coatings presents various challenges, Bull details how laboratory simulation and careful modeling can allow scientists to predict the properties and behavior of thin-film glass glazing.

The May issue also includes an interesting article about something most of us use, but don’t contemplate the science behind, on a daily basis—kitchen appliances. Karine Sarrazy, Alain Aronica, Angelique Leseur, and Charles Baldwin, all with Ferro Corp., write about the company’s development of low-fire enamels for application on preprimed steel appliances. Newly developed enamel formulations can help reduce the energy requirements to produce these coatings and yield materials savings in terms of the amount of steel used in the appliances. And there are consumer benefits—Ferro is developing easier-to-clean enamel coatings, too.

In addition, the May Bulletin features an extended abstract by Norbert J. Kreidl Award winner Lan Li and colleagues that details their exciting work on amorphous thin films for flexible multimaterial integrated photonics. The team developed strategies to integrate amorphous chalcogenides and titanium dioxide on polymer substrates to fabricate such flexible devices. Li will present the 2016 Kreidl Award Lecture at the Glass and Optical Materials Division Annual Meeting in Madison, Wis., on May 24, 2016.  

And while you’re inside this issue of the Bulletin, be sure to catch Keith Bowman’s review of Lynnette Madsen’s new book, Succesful Women Ceramic and Glass Scientist and Engineers: 100 Inspirational Profiles. If you haven’t yet read this book, Bowman’s review just might convince you to move this new anthology to the top of your summer reading list.  

Plus, there’s lots more good stuff inside this—and every issue—of the ACerS Bulletin. The current issue is free to all for a short time, but remember that all the valuable content in over ninety years of past issues of the ACerS Bulletin is free only to members—so considering joining us today!

Author

April Gocha

CTT Categories

  • Art & Archaeology
  • Glass