materials

Sep 11, 2014

Researchers Create World’s Largest DNA Origami

Researchers have created the world’s largest DNA origami, which are nanoscale constructions with applications ranging from biomedical research to nanoelectronics. 

Sep 4, 2014

Titania-Based Material Holds Promise as New Insulator for Superconductors

Research shows that a type of modified titania, or titanium dioxide, holds promise as an electrical insulator for superconducting magnets, allowing heat to dissipate while preserving the electrical paths along which current flows. 

May 6, 2014

What Makes Spider-Man’s Web So Strong?

Spider-Man’s webs are pretty impressive, capable of supporting Spidey’s weight as he swings through New York, trapping super-villains and even suspending cars above city streets. What are they made of? And how are they made? Spider webs are notoriously strong, with spider silk reported as having a tensile strength of up to 1.75 gigapascals (GPa),… 

Apr 15, 2014

Why Captain America’s Shield Is Basically a Star-Spangled Supercapacitor

Captain America’s shield is famous for absorbing tremendous amounts of kinetic energy, from an artillery shell to a punch from the Hulk – keeping Cap not only safe, but on his feet.  What’s going on here? It’s tough to explain how the shield works, in part because it behaves differently under different circumstances. Sometimes the… 

Jan 22, 2014

Why a New Catalyst for Hydrogen Production May Be a Big Deal

A research team led by Linyou Cao at NC State has shown that a one-atom thick film of molybdenum sulfide (MoS2  ) may work as an effective catalyst for creating hydrogen. Hydrogen holds great promise as an energy source, but the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis – freeing hydrogen from water with electricity – currently… 

Dec 2, 2013

How Changing the Way We Study Gold Could Boost Communication Tech

Under the right circumstances, pushing on nothing is harder than pushing on something – at least when that “something” is gold. That’s the finding from a new materials science paper, and it’s a finding that could expedite the development of new wireless communication technologies. The Problem At issue are ohmic radio frequency microelectricalmechanical systems switches… 

Sep 17, 2013

Smaller than Small: Why We Measure the Space between Atoms

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Jacob Jones, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State. We study the movement of incredibly small things. How small is small? Think smaller than “nano.” Think smaller than atoms themselves. We measure the infinitesimally small shifts in the positions of atoms to electrical forces.… 

Jul 10, 2013

Wolverine’s Claws and the Future of Metal Alloys (Snikt!)

The metal that makes Wolverine’s claws virtually indestructible may be a reality sooner than you think. If you know anything about the superhero Wolverine, you know that he has both retractable claws and a mutant power that allows him to heal from virtually any injury. In the comics, a Canadian government project called Weapon X… 

May 13, 2013

Iron Man, 3-D Printing and the Responsibility of Power

If you’ve seen Iron Man 3, you know that – SPOILER ALERT!!!! – billionaire inventor Tony Stark reveals dozens of specialized Iron Man power suits. As fantastic as the suits are, the technology Stark likely uses to make them is not far removed from reality – and neither are the big questions that such technology… 

Apr 24, 2013

Iron Man, Reverse Engineering and the Future of Materials Science

Iron Man 3 isn’t out yet, but the first two movies (and decades of Iron Man comics) raise some interesting questions about how scientists can create and utilize new materials – like the energy source for Iron Man’s suit. For those who have been shut off from pop culture, here’s a recap of the first… 

Mar 18, 2013

The Heat Is On to Understand Thermal Transport between Materials

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Mark Losego, a research assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State. Losego recently co-authored a News and Views article about nanoscale heat flow in Nature Materials with David Cahill of the University of Illinois. The basics of heat flow have long been overlooked, but now,… 

Feb 15, 2013

Thor’s Hammer Is Not That Heavy (But It Is Scientifically Interesting)

In early February, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said on Twitter that the superhero Thor’s Hammer (aka Mjolnir) “weighs as much as a herd of 300 billion elephants.” News outlets pounced on this, and the news was quickly circulating online. Sadly, Tyson was wrong. Tyson’s reasoning was based on the idea that Mjolnir was “made of… 

Jan 28, 2013

Why Doesn’t Plastic Dry as Easily as Glass in the Dishwasher?

An Abstract reader recently sent me this question: “Why doesn’t plastic dry in the dishwasher? Or why doesn’t it dry as quickly/easily as glass? This drives me totally nuts.” Good question! That phenomenon drives me nuts too. The answer appears to have a lot to do with the amount of energy (in the form of… 

Nov 26, 2012

Size Matters When Reducing NiO Nanoparticles

New research finds that size plays a major role in how nanoscale nickel oxide (NiO) shells behave when being reduced to solid nickel nanoparticles. “This advances our fundamental understanding of how the structures of nanoparticles can be changed through chemical reactions, which has potential applications in nanofabrication and catalysis,” says Joe Tracy, a materials scientist… 

Nov 5, 2012

Vote for This! ‘Self-Folding Origami’ is Finalist in SciVis Contest

I think there’s something amazing about watching a two-dimensional (2-D) sheet of plastic fold itself up into a three-dimensional (3-D) object. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science apparently agree, having selected a video (see above) about this self-folding materials research as a finalist in the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge (SciVis). Why would…