Researchers from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) have created a new polymer that can be used in both new age plastic electronics as well as plastic solar cells. The new polymer enables thinner and lighter electronic components and organic solar cells which can be produced… »
A team of researchers from the University of Akron (UA) has observed two species of spiders in order to develop stimuli-resistant and stimuli-sensitive materials. The research shows that the sticky glue that coats the silk threads orb-weaving spiders spin has a different structure, property makeup and response to humidity than glues produced by their evolutionary… »
A team of researchers from University of Connecticut (UConn) perfected a method for creating quick-changing, variable colors in films and displays. They managed to make them less expensive and less wasteful to manufacture compared to any previous method. The technology could be used for displays, solar cells, OLEDs, transistors, vanity glasses, or glasses used by… »
A team of researchers in the United States and Switzerland have developed a polymer-based material that can heal itself with the help of UV lighting. Metallo-supramolecular polymers are solid materials capable to become a supple liquid that fills crevasses and gaps left by scrapes and scratches once it is exposed to ultraviolet light for less than… »
Researchers from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have discovered that new types of polymers are able to physically detect and destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria and infectious diseases. These agents also prevent the bacteria from developing drug resistance by actually breaking through the bacterial cell wall and membrane, a fundamentally different mode of attack… »
Inspired by the hair-thin holdfast fibers that mussels secrete to stick against rocks, researchers from the University of Chicago managed to manufacture a synthetic version of the self-healing sticky substance used by mussels. The substance could be used as an adhesive or coating for underwater machinery or in biomedical settings as a surgical adhesive or… »
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… »
We may like to eat mussels steamed in white wine, but we also like to find mussels at the beach. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and collaborators at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Chicago believe they have uncovered the basis how marine mussels use… »
