Dual-phase alloy extremely resistant to fractures

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in China, the U.S. and Germany has created a dual-phase alloy that has proven to be extremely resistant to fracturing. In their paper published in the journal Science, ...

Mastery of rare-earth elements vital to America's security

Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., a senior metallurgist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, today cautioned members of a Congressional panel that "rare-earth research in the USA on mineral extraction, rare-earth separation, ...

Noble metal-free catalyst system as active as platinum

Industry uses platinum alloys as catalysts for oxygen reduction, essential in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, among other applications. Expensive and rare, that metal imposes tight restrictions on manufacture. Researchers ...

Precise magnets 3-D printed from special stainless steel

It looks quite inconspicuous to the casual beholder, hardly like groundbreaking innovation: a small metallic chessboard, four millimeters long on either side. At first glance, it shines like polished steel; at second glance, ...

Scientists discover superconductor with bounce

The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory has discovered extreme "bounce," or super-elastic shape-memory properties in a material that could be applied for use as an actuator in the harshest of conditions, such as outer ...

Shape-shifting alloys hold promise

Imagine untwisting a finger-size spring, then holding the flame from a lighter underneath the unraveled section. Like magic, it twirls itself into a spring again because the metal alloy remembered its original shape.

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