Researchers at MIT have developed an approach that allows them to create physical sample of a multiscale computer model of a synthetic material. The approach allows creation of complex hierarchical patterns such as bones. The process could be scaled up to provide a cost-effective way to manufacture composite materials that are tailored for specific functions… »

Although metamaterials managed to revolutionize optics in the past decade, their performance so far has been inhibited by their inability to function over broad bandwidths of light. Stanford engineers have designed a broadband metamaterial that more than doubles the range of wavelengths of light that can be manipulated. With adjustments, the researchers believe it could… »

Inspired by the ability of pine cones to close their scales when wet and open them again once they have dried out, a group of researchers at ETH Zurich devised a new method to produce a variety of composite materials that are able to change their shape to a pre-programmed shape after being influence by… »

Researchers of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, the MPI of Microstructure Physics in Halle and the University of Vienna have investigated the composition and structure of spider fangs which serve as reusable hypodermic needles used to inject paralyzing venom into their prey. The findings may lead to development of… »

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have applied biomimicry of insect cuticle – tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings that provide protection – to develop a similar material they named Shrilk. The new material is able to mimic the exceptional strength, toughness, and versatility of the extraordinary material, while… »

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) researchers have developed a composite material based on graphite called graphene paper (GP), and it is thin as paper and ten times stronger than steel. Researchers at UTS have successfully milled the raw graphite by purifying and filtering it with chemicals to reshape and reform it into nano-structured configurations which… »

These days, we normally use sensors to measure whether these components are strained beyond capacity, and it requires a lot of effort to install them into the component parts or glue them onto their surface, and even install networks of sensors with various sensibility. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Material Research… »

A team of materials scientists and chemists from The University of Manchester and The University of Leeds have taken inspiration from sea shells found on the beach to create a composite material from dissimilar ‘ingredients’. They have successfully reinforced calcium carbonate, or chalk, with polystyrene particles that are used to make drinks cups. They report… »