Biological materials from bone to spider-silk and wood are lightweight fibre composites arranged in a complex hierarchical structure, formed by directed self-assembly to demonstrate outstanding mechanical properties.
Synthetic plastics have made many aspect of modern life cheaper, safer and more convenient. However, we have failed to figure out how to get rid of them after we use them.
Environment
Aug 15, 2018
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From its early beginnings during and after World War II, the commercial industry for polymers – long chain synthetic molecules of which "plastics" are a common misnomer – has grown rapidly. In 2015, over 320 million tons ...
Environment
Aug 9, 2018
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The polymers that make up synthetic materials need time to de-stress after processing, researchers said. A new study has found that entangled, long-chain polymers in solutions relax at two different rates, marking an advancement ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 2, 2018
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A team of chemists at the University of California San Diego conducted breakthrough research for materials science—a field for which chemistry frequently provides information about the structure and composition of materials, ...
Materials Science
May 4, 2018
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An international research team led by the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and IBM Research developed a synthetic molecule that can kill five ...
Biotechnology
Mar 6, 2018
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Nature has evolved sugars, amino acids, and special antifreeze proteins as cryoprotectants. People use organic solvents and synthetic polymers as additives to prevent cell cultures from freezing damage. Now, English scientists ...
Biochemistry
Dec 6, 2017
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Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have taken the first steps toward gaining control over the self-assembly of synthetic materials in the same way that biology forms natural ...
Polymers
Nov 2, 2017
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Using mass spectrometry, researchers have for the first time read several bytes of data recorded on a molecular scale using synthetic polymers. Their work sets a new benchmark for the amount of data stored as a sequence of ...
Polymers
Oct 17, 2017
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(Phys.org)—Biological material such as bone and muscle tend to have a wide range of elasticity and rigidity that is different from synthetic materials. In general, with synthetic materials, as stiffness increases, elasticity ...
