Ceramic Tech Today

Video: Rapid expansion of exploratory licenses in Tasmania worries landowners

By Lisa McDonald / September 13, 2023

The mining and minerals processing industries are economically significant sectors for the Australian island state of Tasmania. But as companies apply for more and more exploratory licenses to identify new minerals deposits, landowners in the state are concerned about the environmental impacts.

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By Lisa McDonald / September 13, 2023

New way to make infrared light, heat pumps beat fossil fuel systems, and other materials stories that may be of interest for September 13, 2023.

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Protecting solar panels from hail—the thicker the glass, the better

By Lisa McDonald / September 12, 2023

The increasing frequency and severity of hailstorms puts solar panels at risk of damage. Researchers in India and Hong Kong explored the role that front glass thickness plays in improving the hail resistance of solar panels.

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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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Propelling GaN electronics adoption, plus more inside September 2023 ACerS Bulletin

By Lisa McDonald / September 7, 2023

The September 2023 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring an overview of the current gallium nitride-based device market—is now available online. Plus—ACerS Awards of 2023 and C&GM.

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Video: Ensuring water access in arid environments—pilot fog catcher system simultaneously collects and cleans water

By Lisa McDonald / September 6, 2023

Fog catching provides people living in dry but foggy areas with a stable water source. But air pollution can make the collected water unsafe for use unless it is treated. Researchers led by ETH Zurich developed a system for simultaneously harvesting and cleaning the water collected from fog nets.

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By Lisa McDonald / September 6, 2023

Sensing at the nanoscale, recycling refractory materials, and other materials stories that may be of interest for September 6, 2023.

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Ceramics and ceramists on the Manhattan Project: A narrative of activities at MIT

By Lisa McDonald / September 5, 2023

There are many hidden stories of the people who worked on the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the world’s first atomic bombs. In 1990, the late ACerS Fellows Osgood J. Whittemore and Louis R. McCreight published an article uncovering some of this history by describing research conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop refractory crucibles for nuclear metals processing.

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New framework strengthens link between a ceramic’s structural hierarchy and its properties

By Lisa McDonald / September 1, 2023

Materials scientists often use grain size as the determining variable when correlating a ceramic’s structure with its properties. But the morphology and orientation of the grains can also significantly affect a material’s properties. Researchers in China developed a framework that can correlate a material’s structural hierarchy with its properties, and their latest paper explores the potential of linking this framework to Vickers hardness.

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The ‘very important role’ of ceramics in energy on full display at MCARE/EHS 2023

By Lisa McDonald / August 30, 2023

The combined Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy and Energy Harvesting Society meeting took place Aug. 21–24, 2023, in Bellevue, Wash. Almost 170 attendees from 16 countries attended the conference to participate in cross-border discussions on overcoming the many materials and process-related challenges in the transition to a sustainable energy future.

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