News tagged with metallic surfaces

How ion bombardment reshapes metal surfaces

To modify a metal surface at the scale of atoms and molecules — for instance to refine the wiring in computer chips or the reflective silver in optical components — manufacturers shower it with ions. ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Making microscopic machines using metallic glass

Researchers in Ireland have developed a new technology using materials called bulk metallic glasses to produce high-precision molds for making tiny plastic components. The components, with detailed microscopically patterned ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First evaluation of the Clean Water Act's effects on coastal waters reveals major successes

Levels of copper, cadmium, lead and other metals in Southern California's coastal waters have plummeted over the past four decades, according to new research from USC.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Energy dissipation from vibrating gold nanoparticle strongly influenced by surrounding environment

Metal nanoparticles could play a key role in next-generation light detectors, optical circuits, and cancer therapies. For these future technologies to be realized, it is important to understand what happens ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Novel filter metal-organic framework material could cut natural gas refining costs

A new type of hybrid material developed at the University of California, Berkeley, could help oil and chemical companies save energy and money – and lower their environmental impacts – by eliminating ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Novel plasmonic material may merge photonic and electronic technologies

Helping bridge the gap between photonics and electronics, researchers from Purdue University have coaxed a thin film of titanium nitride into transporting plasmons, tiny electron excitations coupled to light ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Mar 27, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ageing wooden power poles increase risk of fires

Research at RMIT University has proven conclusively that wooden poles used for electricity distribution deteriorate with age and that their electrical performance worsens over time.

Technology / Other

created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Graphene is thinnest known anti-corrosion coating

New research has established the "miracle material" called graphene as the world's thinnest known coating for protecting metals against corrosion. Their study on this potential new use of graphene appears ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 22, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Boiling breakthrough: Nano-coating doubles rate of heat transfer

By adding an incredibly thin coating of alumina to a metal surface, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have doubled the rate that heat travels from a solid surface – such as a pot on a stove – into ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Researchers efficiently couple light from a plane wave into a surface plasmon mode

Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have made a grating coupler that transmits over 45 % of the incident optical energy from a plane wave into a single surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

World's first magnetic soap produced

Scientists from the University of Bristol have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap's magnetic properties were ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood

For the 26 million Americans with diabetes, drawing blood is the most prevalent way to check glucose levels. It is invasive and at least minimally painful. Researchers at Brown University are working on a ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New technique makes it easier to etch semiconductors

Creating semiconductor structures for high-end optoelectronic devices just got easier, thanks to University of Illinois researchers.

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Dec 22, 2011 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Russia's Mars probe will crash to Earth in January

A Russian spacecraft bound for a moon of Mars and stuck in Earth's orbit will come crashing back next month, but its toxic fuel and radioactive material on board will pose no danger of contamination, the Russian ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 16, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 44