Scientific Reports

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.

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Rapid sintering method takes step-wise approach to densify nanoceramics quicky and evenly

By April Gocha / September 12, 2017

Researchers at Jožef Stefan Institute (Ljubljana, Slovenia), the National Institute of Chemistry (Ljubljana, Slovenia), and Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) have developed a new method to rapidly and evenly densify nanoceramics, offering incredible potential to save a lot of time and energy in sintering processes.

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Video: Recycling glass bottles to build better batteries

By April Gocha / May 3, 2017

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have devised a technique to convert recycled glass bottles into nanosilicon anodes for next-gen lithium-ion batteries with the capacity to store almost four times as much energy as conventional anodes.

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Cultivating Mars colonization: 3-D printing method uses extraterrestrial soil to build biodegradable parts on site

By April Gocha / April 14, 2017

Researchers at Northwestern University have devised a technique to 3-D print soft rubber-like materials out of ink composed primarily of extraterrestrial soil. Using a biologically derived binder to hold the soil particles together, the team demonstrated that their unique method can 3-D print tools, building blocks, and other structures.

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Method quickly infiltrates ceramic foams with molten metal to create stable cermet composites

By April Gocha / January 31, 2017

A team of researchers at Texas A&M University has developed a current-activated pressure-assisted infiltration method that can quickly and efficiently combine ceramics and metals into stable, high-performance cermet composites.

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Sea sponges resist buckling by building optimally engineered glass toothpicks

By April Gocha / January 24, 2017

Researchers at Brown University have taken a closer look at the orange puffball sea sponge’s silica spicules and found that they, too, have evolved a precisely engineered design that provides the structures with maximal strength.

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Hot news: Laser melting sets new record for ultra-high temperature ceramic materials

By April Gocha / January 13, 2017

Researchers at Imperial College London have discovered that hafnium carbide and tantalum carbide have some of the highest melting points of any measured materials—making these ultra-high temperature ceramics potentially perfect for use in extreme environments, such as on hypersonic vehicles that soar through space.

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Ceramic hydrogen separation membrane doubles flow rate, could enable clean energy

By April Gocha / December 13, 2016

Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany have developed a significantly improved stable ceramic hydrogen separation membrane that can enable a hydrogen flow rate that is nearly double that of other separation membranes.

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Video: 3-D printing key to conserving rare-earth materials for high-power magnet production

By Stephanie Liverani / November 9, 2016

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they’ve 3-D-printed permanent magnets that can outperform bonded magnets made using traditional techniques while conserving critical rare materials in the process.

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Flash spark plasma sintering: Harnessing thermal runaway to densify silicon carbide in seconds

By April Gocha / October 11, 2016

Researchers at San Diego State University now report that they have developed an ultra-rapid method of flash spark plasma sintering, called flash hot pressing, that can really quickly densify even hard-to-deform materials such as silicon carbide.

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