Plastics are a part of nearly every product we use on a daily basis. The average person in the U.S. generates about 100 kg of plastic waste per year, most of which goes straight to a landfill. A team led by Corinne Scown, ...
Polymers
Apr 22, 2021
3
2301
Biodegradable plastics have been advertised as one solution to the plastic pollution problem bedeviling the world, but today's "compostable" plastic bags, utensils and cup lids don't break down during typical composting and ...
Polymers
Apr 21, 2021
4
1345
When long-chain flexible polymers are dissolved in a turbulent flow, the flow properties can be changed drastically by reducing the drag and enhancing the mixing. A fundamental riddle in materials science is to understand ...
Membranes that allow certain molecules to quickly pass through while blocking others are key enablers for energy technologies from batteries and fuel cells to resource refinement and water purification. For example, membranes ...
Biochemistry
Apr 7, 2021
0
1309
Army-funded researchers discovered how to make materials capable of self-propulsion, allowing materials to move without motors or hands.
Polymers
Feb 1, 2021
1
325
Repeated activity wears on soft robotic actuators, but these machine's moving parts need to be reliable and easily fixed. Now a team of researchers has a biosynthetic polymer, patterned after squid ring teeth, that is self-healing ...
Polymers
Jul 27, 2020
0
261
Northwestern University researchers have developed the most precise way to build polyrotaxanes, a mechanically locked polymer for slide-ring gels, battery electrode materials and drug-delivery platforms.
Polymers
Jun 11, 2020
0
82
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have developed a new way to control harmful fungi, without the need to use chemical bioactives like fungicides or antifungals.
Polymers
Jun 5, 2020
1
245
Polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials can be efficiently developed by covalently embedding phosphors into the polymer matrix. The process is still, however, highly challenging on a large-scale due ...
Functionally graded materials (FGM) allow diverse applications in multidisciplinary fields from biomedicine to architecture. However, their fabrication can be tedious relative to gradient continuity, interfacial bending and ...
