http://phys.org/chemistry-news/polymers/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on polymers Proteins are widely used as drugs — insulin for diabetics is the best known example — and as reagents in research laboratories, but they react poorly to fluctuations in temperature and are known to degrade in storage. http://phys.org/news256842878.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 21 May 2012 18:15:45 EST news256842878 Spiders weave a web even more tangled than originally thought – at least on the nanoscale level, according to a new study performed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news255243147.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 03 May 2012 06:30:03 EST news255243147 A new bio-inspired approach to synthesising polymers will offer unprecedented control over the final polymer structure and yield advances in nanomedicine, researchers say. http://phys.org/news255178196.html Chemistry - Polymers Wed, 02 May 2012 12:20:12 EST news255178196 (Phys.org) -- Thanks to advances in polymer chemistry and a wide variety of monomer constituents to choose from, the world of multiblock polymers is wide open. These polymers can result in an astonishing array of materials, customizable to almost any specification. However, the flood of options could be overwhelming, without a theoretical framework to guide research. UC Santa Barbara scientists Glenn Fredrickson and Kris Delaney address that issue in their paper, "Multiblock Polymers: Panacea or Pandora's Box?" The paper appears in the latest edition of the journal Science. http://phys.org/news254670176.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:43:12 EST news254670176 A breakthrough for inexpensive electricity from solar cells, and a massive investment in wind power, will mean a need to store energy in an intelligent way. According to research at Linköping University (Sweden), published in Science, batteries of biological waste products from pulp mills could provide the solution. http://phys.org/news251636799.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:00:14 EST news251636799 Just as a chameleon changes its color to blend in with its environment, Duke University engineers have demonstrated for the first time that they can alter the texture of plastics on demand, for example, switching back and forth between a rough surface and a smooth one. http://phys.org/news251045573.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:55:29 EST news251045573 Inspired by nature's ability to shape a petal, and building on simple techniques used in photolithography and printing, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a new tool for manufacturing three-dimensional shapes easily and cheaply, to aid advances in biomedicine, robotics and tunable micro-optics. http://phys.org/news250437005.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:00:09 EST news250437005 A Japanese scientist said he has made violin strings out of spider silk and claims that -- in the right hands -- they produce a beautiful sound. http://phys.org/news250229456.html Chemistry - Polymers Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:11:05 EST news250229456 University of California, San Diego bioengineers have developed a self-healing hydrogel that binds in seconds, as easily as Velcro, and forms a bond strong enough to withstand repeated stretching. The material has numerous potential applications, including medical sutures, targeted drug delivery, industrial sealants and self-healing plastics, a team of UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering researchers reported March 5 in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news250166655.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:00:17 EST news250166655 A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, full of untapped energy. These molecules are responsible for aging, DNA damage and cancer in the human body. http://phys.org/news249926366.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:59:38 EST news249926366 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists under the direction of ETH Zurich have created a minor sensation in synthetic chemistry. They succeeded for the first time in producing regularly ordered planar polymers that form a kind of "molecular carpet" on a nanometre scale. http://phys.org/news248333005.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:24:13 EST news248333005 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research in self-healing organic polymers has grown recently, but one simple self-healing mechanism from more than 60 years ago has been nearly forgotten until now. Using this mechanism, which is called “siloxane equilibration,” scientists have demonstrated that silicone rubber that has been cut in half with a razor blade can completely repair itself through heat-activated reversible bonding. The self-healing mechanism could have applications in a variety of areas, such as for designing self-healing surfaces of vehicles and countertops. http://phys.org/news246956589.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:10:43 EST news246956589 Polymers are the material of choice for making thin-film transistors and solar cells. They are also potentially suitable for manufacture using economical, high-throughput techniques, such as roll-to-roll and inkjet printing processes. However, transistors and solar cells have traditionally used different kinds of polymers, and this can severely complicate the fabrication process. Zhi-Kuan Chen at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and co-workers have now developed a versatile polymer that is suitable for both kinds of devices. http://phys.org/news240739726.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:40:02 EST news240739726 Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of the first practical "smart" material that may supply the missing link in efforts to use in medicine a form of light that can penetrate four inches into the human body. Their report on the new polymer or plastic-like material, which has potential for use in diagnosing diseases and engineer new human tissues in the lab, appears in ACS' journal Macromolecules. http://phys.org/news240673093.html Chemistry - Polymers Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:40:01 EST news240673093 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a simple way to convert two-dimensional patterns into three-dimensional (3-D) objects using only light. http://phys.org/news240132576.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:30:30 EST news240132576 (PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, most solar cells are based on silicon which for the most part, necessitates a rigid structure. This isn’t always ideal as some applications would benefit by material that is more bendable. Also, because of the way silicon solar based cells are made, they tend to cost more than a lot of people are willing to pay. If a way could be found to mass produce solar cells very cheaply, its likely solar cells would be installed in far more places and costs for energy would go down. http://phys.org/news239879128.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:09:10 EST news239879128 Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed what they believe to be the first polymeric material that is sensitive to biologically benign levels of near infrared (NRI) irradiation, enabling the material to disassemble in a highly controlled fashion. The study represents a significant milestone in the area of light-sensitive material for non-invasive medical and biological applications. Their work is published on line this week in the journal Macromolecules. http://phys.org/news236861613.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:53:54 EST news236861613 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Leeds and Durham University have solved a long-standing problem that could revolutionize the way new plastics are developed. http://phys.org/news236521440.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:00:06 EST news236521440 (PhysOrg.com) -- Crystals and ceramics pale when compared to a material researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered that has 10 times their piezoelectric effect, making it suitable for perhaps hundreds of everyday uses. http://phys.org/news235975871.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:52:19 EST news235975871 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Leeds scientists have invented a new type of polymer gel that can be used to manufacture cheaper lithium batteries without compromising performance. http://phys.org/news234774798.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:13:54 EST news234774798 (PhysOrg.com) -- By looking to Mother Nature for solutions, researchers have identified a promising new binder material for lithium-ion battery electrodes that not only could boost energy storage, but also eliminate the use of toxic compounds now used to manufacture the components. http://phys.org/news234708474.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:01:19 EST news234708474 (PhysOrg.com) -- Though it seems like science fiction, microscopic "factories" in which nanomachines produce tiny structures for miniaturized components or nanorobots that destroy tumor cells within the body and scrape blockages from our arteries may become reality in the foreseeable future. Nanomotors could transport drugs to specific target organs more rapidly or pilot analytes through the tiny channels on microchip diagnostic systems. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Ayusman Sen and his team from Pennsylvania State University (USA) describe a new type of micromotor that is powered by a polymerization reaction and deposits tiny threads along its trail like a microspider. http://phys.org/news234180733.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:12:45 EST news234180733 Stretchable electronics, an emerging class of modern electronic materials that can bend and stretch, have the potential to be used in a wide range of applications, including wearable electronics, "smart skins" and minimally invasive biomedical devices that can move with the body. http://phys.org/news231759812.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:44:27 EST news231759812 Gram for gram, novel carbon nanofiber-filled coatings devised by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Texas A&M University outperformed conventional flame retardants used in the polyurethane foam of upholstered furniture and mattresses by at least 160 percent and perhaps by as much as 1,130 percent. http://phys.org/news231584672.html Chemistry - Polymers Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:50:01 EST news231584672 Designing new materials depends upon understanding the properties of today's materials. One such material, Nafion, is a polymer that efficiently conducts ions (a polymer electrolyte) and water through its nanostructure, making it important for many energy-related industrial applications, including in fuel cells, organic batteries, and reverse-osmosis water purification. But since Nafion was invented 50 years ago, scientists have only been able to speculate about how to build new materials because they have not been able to see details on how the molecules come together and work within Nafion. http://phys.org/news227707093.html Chemistry - Polymers Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:00:36 EST news227707093 A University of Houston (UH) chemist who is developing materials for detecting and repelling E. coli has published papers in two high-impact journals this month. http://phys.org/news227369158.html Chemistry - Polymers Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:06:57 EST news227369158 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are envious of nature because of its ability to build up highly complex structures like organs and tissues in an ordered fashion without any problem; it takes a great deal of effort for scientists to produce defined microscale structures. Pierre Schaaf and a team of scientists from Strasbourg have now imitated a few of nature’s tricks in order to get a polymer film to "grow" onto a surface. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, they used morphogens as nature does. These signal molecules show a reaction which way it should go. http://phys.org/news223276169.html Chemistry - Polymers Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:10:17 EST news223276169 (PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine you're driving your own new car--or a rental car--and you need to park in a commercial garage. Maybe you're going to work, visiting a mall or attending an event at a sports stadium, and you're in a rush. Limited and small available spots and concrete pillars make parking a challenge. And it happens that day: you slightly misjudge a corner and you can hear the squeal as you scratch the side of your car--small scratches, but large anticipated repair costs. http://phys.org/news222523727.html Chemistry - Polymers Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:09:18 EST news222523727 New research suggests that currently available types of synthetic skin may now be good enough to imitate animal skin in laboratory tests, and may be on their way to truly simulating human skin in the future. http://phys.org/news222349531.html Chemistry - Polymers Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:45:43 EST news222349531 Scientists led by Carnegie Mellon University chemist Krzysztof Matyjaszewski are using electricity from a battery to drive atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a widely used method of creating industrial plastics. The environmentally friendly approach, reported in the April 1 issue of Science, represents a breakthrough in the level of control scientists can achieve over the ATRP process, which will allow for the creation of even more complex and specialized materials. http://phys.org/news220798986.html Chemistry - Polymers Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:04:10 EST news220798986