The International Seabed Authority is running up against a July 9 deadline to finish developing a code for deep-sea mining. The possibility of mineral exploitation taking place without regulations has marine scientists concerned because so much is still unknown about the environmental effects of this practice.
Read More
Stretching metals at the atomic level, fastest industry standard optical fiber, and other materials stories that may be of interest for May 31, 2023.
Read More
Verifying the purity of ultrahigh-purity materials can be a challenge. Researchers in Italy and Norway developed a new analytical protocol based on laser ablation paired with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine the purity of silicon carbide.
Read More
Group-III-nitride semiconductors have considerable potential for electronic and optoelectronic applications, but unintended defects tend to form in their structure during fabrication, which may affect the electrical properties. Two researchers at the University of British Columbia detailed the striking contrast between the effects of threading dislocation lines in gallium nitride versus indium nitride.
Read More
After a series of delays, the United Kingdom finally announced its strategy, as well as a new Japanese partnership, for supporting the semiconductor industry. Details of these plans—as well as industry response so far—are given in today’s CTT.
Read More
Cleaner hydrogen energy, lithography-free photonic chips, and other materials stories that may be of interest for May 24, 2023.
Read More
Innovation in medicine can be slower than in other fields to prevent putting patient safety at risk. Emergencies, however, can necessitate the adoption of new technologies. In an open-access paper, medical professionals in England described the use of a novel technique to extract a ceramic liner during hip revision surgery when established strategies proved ineffective.
Read More
Starting materials can often be derived from different sources, but the impact that material source has on a product’s properties is generally less studied than other factors, such as synthesis technique. Researchers from Wuhan University of Technology explored the effect of different magnesium sources on the production of magnesium aluminate spinel.
Read More
There are many challenges to realizing a hydrogen economy that occur all along the supply chain. One challenge—converting the carrier molecule ammonia back into hydrogen—could be solved using solid acid fuel cells. ACerS Fellow Sossina Haile first developed this type of fuel cell in the late 1990s. Today’s CTT looks at Haile’s 20-year journey with her first Ph.D. student, Calum R. I. Chisholm, to realize the potential of this technology.
Read More
Catalyst curbs corrosion in fuel cell, microprinting inside materials, and other materials stories that may be of interest for May 17, 2023.
Read More