New research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Calif., aims to tackle the problem of corrosion, which costs trillions of dollars globally. Their solution is to predict failure and design better materials up front.
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Researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered that twisting two atom-thick flakes of special materials at high angles reveals unique optical properties, potentially useful for quantum computers and other quantum technologies. By precisely layering these nano-thin materials, they create excitons—artificial atoms that can function as quantum information bits, or qubits.
“If we had just a single layer of this material we’re using, these dark excitons wouldn’t interact with light,” says Nickolas Vamivakas, the Marie C. Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Optical Physics. “By doing the big twist, it turns on artificial atoms within the material that we can control optically, but they are still protected from the environment.”
The work builds on the 2010 Nobel Prize–winning discovery that peeling carbon apart until it reaches a single layer of atoms creates a new two-dimensional (2D) material called graphene with special quantum characteristics.
Scientists have since explored how the optical and electrical properties of graphene and other 2D materials change when layered on top of one another and twisted at very small angles—called moiré superlattices. For example, when graphene is twisted at the “magic” angle of 1.1 degrees, it creates special patterns that produce properties such as superconductivity.
But scientists from Rochester’s Institute of Optics and Department of Physics and Astronomy took a different approach. They used molybdenum diselenide, a 2D material that is more fickle than graphene, and twisted it at much higher angles of up to 40 degrees. Still, the researchers found the twisted monolayers produced excitons that were able to retain information when activated by light.
“This was very surprising for us,” says Arnab Barman Ray, an optics Ph.D. candidate. “Molybdenum diselenide is notorious because other materials in the family of moiré materials show better information-retaining capacity. We think that if we use some of those other materials at these large angles, they will probably work even better.”
The team views this as an important early step toward new types of quantum devices.
“Down the line, we hope these artificial atoms can be used like memory or nodes in a quantum network, or put into optical cavities to create quantum materials,” says Vamivakas. “These could be the backbone for devices like the next generation of lasers or even tools to simulate quantum physics.”
For more information: Nano Letters
As global electricity demand and supply grow, efficient power electronics are crucial for enhancing grid efficiency, stability, integration, and resilience across all energy sources. Advances in wide-bandgap semiconductor materials promise greater power handling capabilities while reducing electrical and thermal losses, enabling the development of smaller, faster, more reliable, and energy-efficient power electronic components compared to current silicon-based technologies.
Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory examined a potential route to achieve peak performance of aluminum gallium nitride, AlxGa1–xN, a key material for increasing power electronics’ energy efficiency and performance, through growth on optimized substrate materials.
This work was undertaken with funding support from the microelectronics initiative through the U.S. Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences Office and Advanced Scientific Computing Research program.
The goal of the work is to grow higher-quality materials through the selection of a lattice-matched substrate. Better electron transmission means better device performance, but the growth of AlxGa1–xN on lattice-mismatched substrates leads to dislocation (line defects that distort a lattice due to the misalignment of atoms), resulting in diminished performance.
“Substrate engineering enables the use of high-performing materials in real devices,” said NREL’s Dennice Roberts, a materials science researcher. “If we can engineer lattice-matched substrates to reduce the effect of dislocations, we can widen the range of sufficiently high-quality materials and build better, more energy-efficient power electronics.”
Substrate engineering can improve device performance—but it is complicated. Defects, such as substrate cracking, are common with growth on AlN and GaN. Efforts to reduce dislocation have been effective but often increase device complexity and limit device design and performance. Lattice mismatching, again, leads to device performance issues.
“Lattice matching is critical for high-quality epitaxial growth,” Roberts said. “We hypothesized that substrates from transition metal carbide and nitride families could enable desired conditions for AlxGa1–xN growth, not only because of ideal lattice matching but also because of ideal thermal and electrical conductivity properties. TaC and AlxGa1–xN are closely lattice-matched, TaC is highly conductive, and they display matched growth in size in response to changes in temperature.”
The team grew, prepared, and used TaC thin films as virtual substrates for high-aluminum-content AlxGa1–xN and demonstrated AlxGa1–xN growth on TaC virtual substrates. To precisely and effectively deposit TaC onto the substrate, they used radio frequency sputtering. They formed substrates through high-temperature annealing, a process that increases ductility—the ability of a metal to undergo significant stress before cracking or breaking—and reduces defects.
For more information: PRX Energy
UK-based Alloyed has secured £37 million in Series B funding to expand its manufacturing facilities in Abingdon, UK, and Seattle, USA, and to advance its digital alloy design platforms and product line. Founded in 2017 as an Oxford University spinout, Alloyed specializes in creating advanced, lightweight metallic alloys for additive manufacturing, with clients including Boeing, Microsoft, Anglo American plc, and BMW. Their materials are used in a variety of applications, from antennas and satellite structures to jet engine components, VR headsets, and smartwatches.
Japanese investment firm SPARX and the Development Bank of Japan led the £37M Series B round. Aviva Investors and Senningerberg-based Future Industry Ventures also provided funding. This adds to Alloyed’s existing backers, Oxford Science Enterprises, JX Advanced Metals, and Anglo American plc.
“We’re excited to welcome this exceptional group of new investors, enabling us to accelerate investment in our digital tools and expand our certified production facilities both in the UK and the US,” explained Alloyed’s CEO, Michael Holmes. “Automated design and manufacturing is an industry where the UK, with our expertise in materials science and world class engineering capability, has the potential to lead on the global stage and Alloyed is at the forefront of this transformation.”
Alloyed claims that its Abingdon HQ features “one of the largest fleets of Additive Manufacturing machines in Europe.” Across its UK and US facilities, it develops advanced metallic alloys optimized for metal 3D printing. The materials developer aims to capitalize on the emerging automated design and manufacturing with its portfolio, which includes copper alloys, alloy steels, stainless steels, and aluminum alloys.
Back in 2022, Alloyed showcased its 3D printed copper cooling plate designed for high-temperature computing systems and general liquid cooling systems. This device featured a complex 3D printed lattice structure that minimizes material usage while enhancing cooling performance. The monolithic plate was reportedly simpler and more efficient at transferring heat than its conventionally manufactured counterparts.
Looking ahead, the metal developer believes high-performance alloys will play a key role in global efforts to transition to sustainable energy. It anticipates that more companies will work to deploy increasingly stronger and lighter materials to develop “next-generation technologies.”
“Additive manufacture has great promise for the energy transition and future products across a range of industries, but has been held back by a range of engineering challenges,” explained Takaki Demichi, Director and Head of Investment for SPARX Asset Management’s Next-Generation Growth Division. He believes these barriers are “directly addressed by Alloyed’s materials, processing, design, and production technologies and its highly data-driven approach.”
Development Bank of Japan’s General Manager of Innovation Promotion Office, Yuki Takemori, added, “Alloyed is at the forefront of innovation in the manufacturing sector and a natural partner for us.” The Tokyo financial institution believes its collaboration with Alloyed will “enhance the sector even further” by creating a “model case for commercialising technology.”
Additive manufacturing is attracting the attention of global investors. According to IDTechEx data, approximately $650 million was invested into 3D printing across 40 deals in 2024. While the state of investing in 3D printing has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, it remains stable amid a shift away from tech hype to disciplined funding.
For more information: Alloyed
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown that ripples in two-dimensional materials, like graphene, significantly influence fluid interactions, strength, conductivity, and chemical activity. Understanding how rippling and defects interact is essential for advancing technologies such as energy storage, flexible electronics, nanofluidics, and catalysis. Defects can dramatically alter the surface ripples, sometimes causing the material to freeze in place, similar to a still image.
Dr. Fabian Thiemann, the first author of the study, is currently a Research Scientist at IBM. He began this research while pursuing his Ph.D. at UCL, the University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London.
2D materials are central to technological advancements in areas such as water filtration, high-speed electronics, and ultra-thin flexible displays. However, at the atomic level, surfaces that appear flat are never truly flat. These 2D surfaces contain microscopic ripples that influence their properties.
The researchers used machine learning-based computer models to simulate 2D sheets of graphene and other materials. These models allowed them to examine how different materials, both with and without defects, exhibit rippling behavior. They discovered that defects in the material affect how ripples propagate and, more significantly, cause the membrane to freeze and lose its flexibility when defect concentrations are high.
Dr. Camille Scalliet, currently a Permanent Researcher at the Laboratoire de Physique de l’École Normale Supérieure in Paris, conducted this research while serving as a Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
The researchers are excited to expand on these findings in the future. Fabian Thiemann and Camille Scalliet discussed their thoughts on the future of their study: “There are great ways to continue this work. Our next steps are to study more complicated situations at the nanoscale, such as membranes in contact with water or other materials. This is just the beginning of this collaboration.”
For more information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Image: Defects in a flexible sheet
Empa researchers have developed a 3D printing method to produce soft, elastic, yet powerful artificial muscles. These artificial muscles could one day be used in medicine, robotics, and other applications requiring movement at the touch of a button. While they hold potential for supporting people at work, aiding mobility, or replacing injured muscle tissue, creating artificial muscles that match the performance of real muscles remains a significant technical challenge.
In order to keep up with their biological counterparts, artificial muscles must not only be powerful, but also elastic and soft. At their core, artificial muscles are so-called actuators: Components that convert electrical impulses into movement. Actuators are used wherever something moves at the push of a button, whether at home, in a car engine or in highly developed industrial plants. However, these hard mechanical components do not have much in common with muscles just yet.
The dielectric elastic actuators (DEA) consist of two different silicone-based materials: a conductive electrode material and a non-conductive dielectric. These materials interlock in layers. “It’s a bit like interlacing your fingers,” explains Empa researcher Patrick Danner. If an electrical voltage is applied to the electrodes, the actuator contracts like a muscle. When the voltage is switched off, it relaxes to its original position.
3D printing such a structure is not trivial, Danner knows. Despite their very different electrical properties, the two soft materials should behave very similarly during the printing process. They should not mix but must still hold together in the finished actuator.
The printed “muscles” must be as soft as possible so that an electrical stimulus can cause the required deformation. Added to this are the requirements that all 3D printable materials must fulfill: They must liquefy under pressure so that they can be extruded out of the printer nozzle. Immediately thereafter, however, they should be viscous enough to retain the printed shape.
“These properties are often in direct contradiction,” says Danner. “If you optimize one of them, three others change … usually for the worse.”
In collaboration with researchers from ETH Zurich, Danner and Dorina Opris, who leads the research group Functional Polymeric Materials, have succeeded in reconciling many of these contradictory properties. Two special inks, developed at Empa, are printed into functioning soft actuators using a nozzle developed by ETH researchers Tazio Pleij and Jan Vermant.
The collaboration is part of the large-scale project Manufhaptics, which is part of the ETH Domain’s strategic area Advanced Manufacturing. The aim of the project is to develop a glove that makes virtual worlds tangible. The artificial muscles are designed to simulate the gripping of objects through resistance.
However, there are far more potential applications for soft actuators. They are light, noiseless and, thanks to the new 3D printing process, can be shaped as required. They could replace conventional actuators in cars, machinery and robotics. If they are developed even further, they could also be used for medical applications.
Opris and Danner are already working on it. Their new process can be used to print not only complex shapes, but also long elastic fibers. “If we manage to make them just a little thinner, we can get pretty close to how real muscle fibers work,” says Opris. The researcher believes that in the future it may be possible to print an entire heart from these fibers. However, there is still a lot to do before such a dream becomes a reality.
For more information: Advanced Materials Technologies
Image: Complexity on a small scale: A 3D-printed soft actuator or “artificial muscle.”
Penn State researchers are set to enhance their semiconductor technology R&D capabilities with $4.3 million in funding and support from MMEC, a consortium focused on microelectronics. This funding, part of the Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons initiative under the CHIPS Act, will help establish an advanced lab for semiconductor thin films and device research at the Materials Research Institute in the Millennium Science Complex. MMEC, founded by Battelle, unites industry, academia, and government to drive innovation in microelectronics for commercial and defense applications, strengthening the U.S. supply chain.
“We were very fortunate to be included in the original MMEC proposal,” said Joan Redwing, lead investigator on the infrastructure project and distinguished professor of materials science and engineering and director of MRI’s Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, a U.S. National Science Foundation Materials Innovation Platform and national user facility. “The proposal included infrastructure investment for training and workforce development. The funding will allow MRI to build capacity for next-generation semiconductor thin films and devices, which includes new equipment that will allow us to scale up fabrication and create prototype devices.”
At the heart of the new facility, made possible by the funding, will be a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) tool, manufactured by AIXTRON SE, a multinational technology company. The MOCVD tool works by heating a chamber in a highly controlled manner where special chemical gases, containing the elements needed for the material, are introduced. These gases react and break down on a hot surface, such as a semiconductor wafer, depositing a thin, even layer of material. This precise layering allows for high-quality materials used in advanced technologies like semiconductors.
This instrument will enable the deposition of semiconductor thin films on multiple wafers at a time at sizes up to four-inch diameter. The tool is unique in its ability to grow both wide bandgap semiconductors such as gallium nitride — used in power electronics — and two-dimensional (2D) materials — an emerging ultra-thin semiconductor for logic and brain-inspired computing. Gallium nitride and 2D materials have applications in high-performance power electronics and energy-efficient computing, which are critical technologies for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, among other applications.
“This tool will allow students and early career researchers to gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art thin film deposition equipment used by industry for compound semiconductor thin film manufacturing,” Redwing explained. “It will also provide new capabilities for scaling up thin film materials for device research, particularly for advanced semiconductors including wide bandgap and 2D materials.”
In addition to the MOCVD tool, the lab will house several other specialized instruments. One is a Jupiter XR atomic force microscope from Oxford Instruments Asylum Research for fast scanning and full-wafer mapping, which will help enhance quality control and characterization of thin film materials. The other is an evaporator for deposition of specialized contact metal stacks for devices fabricated using 2D materials. This tool will support research by Suzanne Mohney, professor of materials science and engineering, and Saptarshi Das, professor of engineering science and mechanics, in addition to other faculty.
The equipment will be available for use by researchers inside and outside Penn State as a user facility with shared process know-how. The lab’s capabilities will provide opportunities for a range of Penn State researchers, including faculty working on power electronics and 2D-device development.
“This new lab connects us more closely with MMEC and provides a unique opportunity to support training and workforce development as well as collaborative research with universities and industry partners across the consortium,” Redwing said.
For more information: Penn State University
Image: The new lab will enable work developing advanced semiconductor wafers, shown here.
Scientists have developed a method to visualize the dynamic behavior of nanoparticles, crucial in pharmaceuticals, electronics, and industrial materials, by combining artificial intelligence with electron microscopy. This breakthrough, involving researchers from Arizona State University, Cornell University, and the University of Iowa, allows for unprecedented time-resolution imaging of molecules one-billionth of a meter in size.
“Nanoparticle-based catalytic systems have a tremendous impact on society,” explains Carlos Fernandez-Granda, director of NYU’s Center for Data Science and a professor of mathematics and data science, one of the paper’s authors. “It is estimated that 90 percent of all manufactured products involve catalytic processes somewhere in their production chain. We have developed an artificial-intelligence method that opens a new window for the exploration of atomic-level structural dynamics in materials.”
For more information: NYU
Researchers at Naton Biotechnology have advanced 3D-printed medical implants by developing the world’s first laser 3D-printed total knee implant, which has been approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration. Their study focused on enhancing the strength and consistency of cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo) alloy implants using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). By optimizing heat treatment, they corrected material inconsistencies, resulting in stronger, more reliable, and safer implants for patients.
This research provides key insights into how 3D printing affects metal implants and lays the foundation for better quality control in orthopedic manufacturing, helping to advance the future of customized medical implants.
This research was led by Professor Changhui Song from South China University of Technology and Professor Jia-Kuo Yu from Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital as co-corresponding authors. The study was conducted in collaboration with Senior Engineer Renyao Li from Naton Biotechnology (Beijing) Co., Ltd and other members of the team.
The layer-by-layer manufacturing process of CoCrMo, a widely used implant material, occurs at extremely high cooling rates (~10⁵–10⁶ K/s). This rapid solidification often leads to anisotropy, meaning the material’s properties vary depending on the direction of force. The main causes include columnar grain structures, porosity, and residual stress, all of which are inherent to additive manufacturing.
While extensive research has been conducted on LPBF-fabricated CoCrMo alloys, most studies have only examined their performance in a single direction, overlooking how anisotropy affects overall durability. However, implants inside the human body must withstand forces from multiple directions. Then, if the material’s strength is inconsistent, weak spots can develop, increasing the risk of breakage or failure.
In mechanical tests, CoCrMo samples stretched significantly more in one direction (19.1% elongation) than in another (9.3% elongation)—a disparity of over 100%. This inconsistency makes the material unreliable for long-term medical use, as implants must perform uniformly and safely under everyday stresses.
The team found that a two-step heat treatment process significantly improved the uniformity of the metal’s structure and strength. The process included:
As a result, the metal’s strength and flexibility became nearly identical in all directions. The ultimate tensile strength reached 906.1 MPa and 879.2 MPa, while elongation values balanced at 20.2% and 17.9%, making the material stronger and more reliable for medical use.
With this breakthrough, scientists are now looking at surface treatments to further enhance the wear resistance and biocompatibility of implants. Methods like shot peening (where tiny metal beads are blasted onto the surface) and ultrasonic peening could improve the fatigue resistance of implants, helping them last longer under daily stress. These next-generation treatments could make 3D-printed joint implants even more durable and widely used in clinical settings.
This research offers new insights into how to improve 3D-printed metal implants, making them safer and more durable for patients. By addressing uneven strength and material quality, this breakthrough lays the foundation for better orthopedic implants, particularly for joint replacements.
For more information: IOP Science
Image: Diagrams illustrating how columnar grains develop during the LPBF, contributing to microstructural anisotropy; (b) Stress-strain curves showing significant improvements in the mechanical anisotropy after heat treatment; (c) Diagrams showing the recrystallization process, where equiaxed grains form to eliminate directional effects and enhance uniformity; (d) TEM images revealing the nanoscale interactions between martensite laths in the solution-annealed state; (e) Visual representation of the synergistic effects between annealing twins and martensite laths.
A research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has synthesized high-quality boride ceramic powders with an Archimedean shape, holding promising implications for the future of heat protection materials.
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Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, San Diego, Calif., received the People’s Choice Award at the 2024 Maintenance Innovation Challenge for its presentation on cold spray technology, a repair process designed to restore corroded and damaged naval aircraft components.
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Researchers at the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with Power Roll Ltd., have developed a cost-effective, flexible solar cell using a perovskite semiconductor. This innovative design, which consolidates electrical contacts onto the back of the cell, simplifies production and enhances efficiency, making solar power more accessible, especially in regions where conventional panels are impractical.
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Sudipta Seal, FASM, a UCF Pegasus Professor and chair of the materials science and engineering department, is dedicated to improving patient survivorship and quality of life through his research on cerium oxide nanoparticles, known as nanoceria. Since joining UCF in 1997, he has earned 92 patents and published over 450 journal papers, pioneering nanoceria research for biomedical applications and advancing the nanoscience of materials processing and engineering.
As Seal continued his research, he realized nanoceria was being used for microelectronic processing, but not yet in the biomedical sector. “We at UCF are the first ones to show that this has wonderful properties,” Seal says. “We filed a patent and were the very first to show nano cerium cell survivability,” he says “Then of course, after that, the field has really blossomed. There is a wide range of applications in biomedical sciences — from cancer research to bone regeneration, tissue regeneration and radiation protection. All from this almost accidental discovery made at UCF.”
Since then, Seal and his research team have found that nanoceria are non-toxic and great carriers for delivering therapeutic agents and have regenerative oxidative properties.
Seal says that the nanoceria structure can be tweaked depending on the application.
“In layman’s terms, I would say I create openings in that crystal structure that I can tinker with,” he says. “This is where the functional materials come in. I can take one opening and use it to send something, maybe I can load a drug on it. I can take another opening and keep it open to destroy nasty radicals produced by cells that are not needed.”
Seal says that nanoceria’s versatility enables companies to put them in pills or injectables. “The sky’s the limit,” he says. “There’s also recent data that when combined with drugs, the nanoceria material actually protects the good cells, while the drug kills cancer cells even more potently.”
Seal’s cerium oxide research has led to four technologies that he co-developed with Kenneth Liechty, division chief of pediatric surgery and vice chair of surgery research at the University of Arizona. Liechty was previously at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, which is where he and Seal had collaborated.
Seal and Liechty combined UCF’s nanoceria platform with the University of Colorado’s experience in microRNA (miRNA) to engineer a specialized miRNA that can assist with diabetic wound healing. Found in all human cells, miRNA plays important roles in many biological processes such as cell proliferation or development of specific cell functions and characteristics.
Seal and collaborators leveraged the cerium oxide molecules to deliver specialized miRNA to an enflamed wound site in patients with diabetes to correct the inflammatory response at the molecular level. Once there, the molecules shorten the time of diabetic wound closure and help avoid the complications associated with impaired diabetic wound healing as those with diabetes often experience slower wound healing.
The molecules specifically combat excess reactive oxygen species molecules, which may build up as a result of prolonged inflammation and ultimately delay proper wound closure and healing. With that kind of inflammatory response, the body can produce a build-up of excess reactive oxygen species molecules, which then leads to increased oxidative stress inside cells.
Nanosilk fibers created from silkworms or spiders is another unique healing invention developed by UCF and the University of Colorado.
The patented invention includes biocompatible and hypoallergenic compositions to heal, protect and strengthen skin. It also employs a combined nanoceria-miRNA specialized composition.
Silk comprises two proteins: fibroin and sericin. The silk core is fibroin, often used to make surgical sutures because it is non-toxic and biocompatible with human tissues. Fibroin solution converts to many forms, including films, sponges, gels and powders.
During their research, the inventors found that applying a layered system of silk fibroin fibers in solution and spun mat formats can effectively protect and strengthen skin, especially in weak areas that are injury-prone or stressed repetitively.
Also, they found that when integrated with cerium oxide molecules conjugated with the miRNA, the silk fibroin fiber solution and mat enhanced wound healing.
“We are now using biodegradable material to deliver therapeutics in disease sites,” Seal says. “Silk ceria composite is one of them — it’s green and sustainable technology.”
The solution of silk fibroin fibers may be applied as a spray, liquid, form or gel, and the fibroin mat can be applied as a mat, sheet, gel or fiber.
The invention can be used as a protective layer to improve the skin’s elasticity, thus preventing or reducing injury, even minor blisters and skin ulcers. It can also treat a variety of wounds, and it can be used to treat injuries to subcutaneous tissue.
UCF and the University of Colorado collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania to develop a nanoceria-miRNA conjugate that not only assists with wound healing, but with tissue regeneration and angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels).
“You need angiogenesis, and you need blood vessels to grow,” Seal says.
For instance, after a heart attack, the invention aids recovery by reducing the body’s inflammatory response and helping it to generate new tissue for blood vessels.
As with diabetic wounds, heart attacks can cause the body to produce excess reactive oxygen species, increase oxidative stress and inflammation.
Offering both treatment and prevention, the patented invention can significantly mitigate heart damage and prevent adverse ventricular remodeling during recovery.
Seal says that his earlier work 10-15 years ago on lung injury and cancer therapy radiation helped to develop new technology with the University of Colorado to promote lung repair, reduce lung inflammation and help treat or prevent pulmonary diseases or conditions.
“When you treat the lungs with nanoceria, the good cells around the lungs are protected from the radiotherapy while the radiotherapy is killing the cancer cells,” Seal says. “The cerium oxide has this bifunctionality to protect the good cells from the radiation.”
He explained that the nanocerium oxide has multivalent states, meaning the invention’s nanoparticles can stay silent when they want to and stay active when needed.
“What we have seen in nanoscale depends on the microenvironment in the cell,” he says. “It can switch back and forth.”
The cerium oxide and miRNA compositions of the invention can be administered in different forms as a spray or a pump.
Seal says he plans to continue promoting the commercialization aspect of technology developed within his department.
“I’m really a proponent of people creating new IPs and taking them to the next level,” he says. “The world of nanomaterials is quite intriguing and the potential benefit of the nanomaterials, nanotechnology is immense.”
For more information: University of Central Florida Research
Image: Pegasus Professor Sudipta Seal is a UCF trustee chair and chair of UCF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He has nearly 100 patents to his name.
The University of Illinois System and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan awarded $1.2 million to eight new interdisciplinary research teams, selected from 52 applications, to drive innovations and enhance collaboration between the universities. This initiative, launched in 2023, aims to accelerate economic development through innovative technologies, with funding from UAAT’s Secretariat and the U of I System’s Office of the Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation.
The newly funded seed grant projects will focus on:
“Through our strong partnership with UAAT, we look to develop research programs with impact in both the immediate future and over the long term,” U of I System President Tim Killeen said. “Researchers from Illinois and Taiwan have joined forces to conduct leading-edge work in their respective fields, and we fully expect breakthrough discoveries from these funded collaborations and longer-term solutions to grand challenges as these faculty-to-faculty partnerships grow. The seed grant program is part of our strategic focus on growing partnerships with the UAAT, its faculty and its students.”
Project teams were required to have participation from at least two of UAAT’s 12 universities and at least one of the three U of I System universities, and proposals had to focus on next-generation semiconductor technologies, AI and data for human well-being, and sustainability – key areas of strength for both groups of universities.
“It is inspiring to witness the launch of this collaboration among international university alliances and systems,” said Wen-Chang Chen, president of National Taiwan University and convener of UAAT. “With this joint initiative, UAAT and the U of I System are establishing a new model for international collaboration through international alliances/systems by combining the resources and expertise of their member universities. These funded projects represent some truly innovative ideas for collaboration in critical academic fields, and it will be exciting to follow their progress.”
For more information: University of Illinois System
Researchers at Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, have developed a new Template-Constrained Additive printing technology inspired by tree root systems that enhances the mechanical robustness and precision of flexible electronic circuits, allowing them to withstand extreme conditions like high temperatures and mechanical wear, expanding their applications in smart robotics and advanced sensing systems.
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Researchers at Stanford Engineering have developed an ultrathin material that conducts electricity better than copper and could enable more energy-efficient nanoelectronics.
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Imec, Belgium, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, has announced a significant milestone in silicon photonics with the successful demonstration of electrically-driven GaAs-based multi-quantum-well nano-ridge laser diodes fully, monolithically fabricated on 300 mm silicon wafers in its CMOS pilot prototyping line.
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The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded $445,515 to a team including researchers at Penn State Shenango, Sharon, Pa., and Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, to explore the fatigue behavior of 3D-printed materials.
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The UK Battery Industrialization Center, United Kingdom, opened its new upgraded and extended Battery Development Laboratory, greatly increased the facility’s capabilities in key areas of battery materials characterization, cell analysis, and forensic activities.
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Medical implants have revolutionized healthcare with advanced materials and technologies, but many face challenges like poor cell adhesion, leading to inflammatory responses. Apatite coatings, especially hydroxyapatite (HA) found in bones, can enhance integration with tissues, but artificially synthesized apatite nanoparticles often lack effective binding with biological tissues. Researchers at Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan, have developed surface-modified apatite nanoparticles that improve cell adhesion, paving the way for the next generation of biocompatible medical implants.
Led by Dr. Motohiro Tagaya, Associate Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Bioengineering at Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan, this research aims to enhance the performance of apatite coatings and advance the field of biocompatible materials for medical devices. Along with Dr. Tagaya, Mr. Kazuto Sugimoto from Nagaoka University of Technology, Dr. Tania Guadalupe Peñaflor Galindo from Sophia University, and Mr. Ryota Akutsu from Nagaoka University of Technology were also a part of this research team.
Apatites are a class of calcium-phosphorus-based inorganic compounds, with hydroxyapatite—a naturally occurring form found in bones. These compounds are known for their high biocompatibility. Recent studies have found that coating artificial joints and implants with apatite nanoparticles is a plausible solution for improving the biocompatibility of these biodevices. However, the artificially synthesized nanoparticles often show reduced binding affinity to biological tissues in vitro. According to Dr. Tagaya and his team, this difference could be linked to the nanoscale surface layer of the apatite nanoparticles.
Dr. Tagaya’s research was driven by a desire to unravel the complexities of biocompatible materials, leading his team to develop an interdisciplinary framework that controls the intricate interactions between apatite and biological systems.
The team synthesized hydroxyapatite nanoparticles by mixing aqueous solutions of calcium and phosphate ions. The pH of the solution was controlled using three different bases, which included tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and potassium hydroxide (KOH). The precipitated nanoparticles were then evaluated for their surface layer characteristics and were further used for coating via electrophoretic deposition.
The results revealed that pH was a key factor during synthesis, since it affected the crystalline phases, surface properties, and electrophoretic deposition. On analyzing the crystalline phases of the nanoparticles, it was observed that the choice of pH influenced the formation of different calcium phosphate phases like calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) and carbonate-containing hydroxyapatite (CHA). Higher pH favored the formation of CHA, leading to better crystallinity, and a higher calcium to phosphorus (Ca/P) molar ratio.
The surface of the apatite nanoparticles shows three different layers. The inner apatite layer/core is characterized by the presence of the crystalline structure of the apatite. Above the apatite layer is the non-apatitic layer, which is rich in ions like phosphate ions and carbonate ions. This layer reacts with water molecules and forms the hydration layer. Analyzing the surface characteristics of these layers revealed that pH adjustments facilitated the formation of the non-apatitic layer rich in reactive ions, enhancing hydration properties, which was confirmed.
Importantly, the study revealed that while higher pH facilitates the formation of the non-apatitic layer, the presence of Na+ ions reduces the concentration of phosphate ions, leading to decreased reactivity of the layer. The introduction of substantial ions by NaOH also affected the uniformity of electrophoretic deposition, as observed in scanning probe microscope studies. This effect was not observed with KOH, indicating that KOH was more suitable than NaOH for forming the non-apatitic layer and ensuring uniform coating.
These findings can be potentially useful for surface coating of a wide range of biodevices that are implanted in the human body, including artificial joints and implants.
For more information: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Image: Researchers from Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan develop highly biocompatible apatite nanoparticles by manipulating surface properties through pH changes.
The world record for thinnest pasta has just been shattered.
A team of researchers has created starchy nanofibers from white flour, with an average thickness of about 370 nanometers, or roughly two-hundredths the thickness of a human hair. These nanofibers, produced by mixing flour with formic acid to uncoil the starch molecules, are being explored for use in biodegradable bandages rather than as food.
“Normally, if you want to cook starch, then you use water and heat to break up the tight packing of starch,” notes Adam Clancy. “We do that chemically with formic acid. So we effectively pickle it instead of cooking it.”
Clancy is a chemist at University College London in England. He was part of a team that warmed this dough to give it the right consistency. To stretch the dough into tiny noodles, they used a technique called electrospinning.
In this process, an electrical charge pulled the dough through a needle and onto a plate several centimeters away. The starch molecules tangled with each other as they left the needle, forming a jet. As the jet flew through the air, the formic acid evaporated. This left behind a thin fiber. After about 30 minutes, the fiber formed a thin mat on the plate.
This isn’t the first time someone has made a mat of starchy nanofibers. Such mats typically have tiny holes called pores. These pores are large enough to let water molecules through, but too small for bacteria to enter. That makes them good options for bandages and wound dressings.
But past research has electrospun mats using pure starch, as opposed to a starch-containing flour. The process of extracting pure starch from plant matter takes a lot of energy and water. The new study shows such costly extraction isn’t always needed.
Since the fibers are made of dried flour, they count as pasta, the authors say. That makes them the thinnest pasta on record.
Each noodle is roughly a thousandth the width of su filindeu. That’s a type of pasta about half the width of angel hair noodles, which are about 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) thick when cooked.
So is Clancy’s nanopasta edible? “I certainly hope so,” he says.
For more information: Nanoscale Advances
Image: These nanofibers (seen under a scanning electron microscope) can be called pasta because they are made from dried flour. That makes them the thinnest noodles ever.
A research team led by Associate Professor Tao Sun has made significant advancements in additive manufacturing, particularly for aerospace and other industries requiring strong metal parts. They have successfully tackled the challenge of detecting keyhole pores, a major defect in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technique.
Introduced in the 1990s, LPBF uses metal powder and lasers to 3D print metal parts. But porosity defects remain a challenge for fatigue-sensitive applications like aircraft wings. Some porosity is associated with deep and narrow vapor depressions which are the keyholes.
The formation and size of the keyhole is a function of laser power and scanning velocity, as well as the materials’ capacity to absorb laser energy. If the keyhole walls are stable, it enhances the surrounding material’s laser absorption and improves laser manufacturing efficiency. If, however, the walls are wobbly or collapse, the material solidifies around the keyhole, trapping the air pocket inside the newly formed layer of material. This makes the material more brittle and more likely to crack under environmental stress.
Sun and his team, including Professor Anthony Rollett from Carnegie Mellon University and Mechanical Engineering Professor Lianyi Chen from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, developed an approach to detect the exact moment when a keyhole pore forms during the printing process.
“By integrating operando synchrotron x-ray imaging, near-infrared imaging, and machine learning, our approach can capture the unique thermal signature associated with keyhole pore generation with sub-millisecond temporal resolution and 100 percent prediction rate,” Sun said.
In developing their real-time keyhole detection method, the researchers also advanced the way a state-of-the-art tool — operando synchrotron x-ray imaging — can be used. Utilizing machine learning, they additionally discovered two modes of keyhole oscillation.
“Our findings not only advance additive manufacturing research, but they can also practically serve to expand the commercial use of LPBF for metal parts manufacturing,” said Rollett.
“Porosity in metal parts remains a major hurdle for wider adoption of LPBF technique in some industries. Keyhole porosity is the most challenging defect type when it comes to real-time detection using lab-scale sensors because it occurs stochastically beneath the surface,” Sun said. “Our approach provides a viable solution for high-fidelity, high-resolution detection of keyhole pore generation that can be readily applied in many additive manufacturing scenarios.”
For more information: Science Magazine
Image: UVA materials science and engineering postdoctoral fellow Zhongshu Ren (left) and Tao Sun display the results of their research.
Automaker modernizes heat-treatment operations with Nitrex technology
Nitrex, Quebec, announced that a major automotive manufacturer has selected its EndoFlex L generators to upgrade heat-treatment operations. This initiative supports the automaker’s commitment to improving production efficiency while advancing sustainability and cost management efforts.
The facility specializes in manufacturing engine components that require carburizing, a heat-treatment process that enhances surface durability by introducing carbon into the material. Previously, the site relied on aging, gas-heated generators to produce endothermic gas for this process. However, these generators had become inefficient, consuming excessive natural gas and increasing CO₂ emissions. To address these challenges, the manufacturer has chosen Nitrex’s electrically heated EndoFlex L endothermic gas generators to optimize efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
Designed specifically for carburizing applications, the EndoFlex L features a multi-retort design and precise temperature control, ensuring a consistent and stable supply of high-quality endothermic gas. The system operates on demand, significantly reducing gas consumption and emissions, making it a more sustainable and cost-effective solution.
Daniel Panny, head of sales Europe at Nitrex, emphasized the company’s long-standing relationship with the automaker, noting that previous projects included upgrading legacy generators with the EndoInjector gas injection system. He stated that this latest investment demonstrates how sustained partnerships can drive meaningful advancements in industrial manufacturing.
Researchers from ETH Zurich have explored a new passive dehumidification approach for indoor spaces, where high humidity is absorbed by walls and ceilings and temporarily stored in a hygroscopic material. This method, which releases moisture when the room is ventilated, offers an energy-efficient alternative to mechanical dehumidification systems commonly used in high-traffic areas like offices, museums, and government buildings. According to Professor Guillaume Habert, this solution is ideal for spaces where existing ventilation systems are insufficient.
Habert and his research team followed the principle of the circular economy in their search for a suitable hygroscopic material. The starting point is finely ground waste from marble quarries. A binder is needed to turn this powder into moisture-binding wall and ceiling components. This task is performed by a geopolymer, a class of materials consisting of metakaolin (known from porcelain production) and an alkaline solution (potassium silicate and water). The alkaline solution activates the metakaolin and provides a geopolymer binder that binds the marble powder to form a solid building material. The geopolymer binder is comparable to cement but emits less CO2 during its production.
In the ETH project, the scientists succeeded in producing a prototype of a wall and ceiling component measuring 20 × 20 cm and 4 cm thick. Production was carried out using 3D printing in a group led by Benjamin Dillenburger, Professor for Digital Building Technologies. In this process, the marble powder is applied in layers and glued by the geopolymer binder (binder jet printing technology). “This process enables the efficient production of components in a wide variety of shapes,” says Benjamin Dillenburger.
Combining geopolymer and 3D printing to produce a moisture reservoir is an innovative approach to sustainable construction. Building physicist Magda Posani led the study of the material’s hygroscopic properties at ETH Zurich before recently taking on a professorship at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. The project is based on the doctoral theses of materials scientist Vera Voney, supervised by Senior Research Associate Coralie Brumaud and architect Pietro Odaglia, who developed the material and the 3D printing machine at ETH.
“We were able to demonstrate with numerical simulations that the building components can significantly reduce humidity in heavily used indoor spaces,” says Posani, summarising the main result of the research project. For the simulation, it was assumed that the walls and ceiling of a reading room used by 15 people in a public library in Oporto, Portugal had been completely lined with hygroscopic components. Magda Posani calculated how often and to what extent the humidity exceeded the comfort zone, i.e. 40 to 60 percent relative humidity in this virtual reading room over the course of a year. From this, she calculated a discomfort index, a figure that expresses the loss of comfort caused by excessively high or low humidity. If the reading room were fitted with the moisture-binding components, the discomfort index could be reduced by 75 percent compared to a conventional painted wall. If components were used that were 5 cm thick instead of just 4 cm, the discomfort index fell by as much as 85 percent.
The hygroscopic wall and ceiling components are climate-friendly, i.e. they cause significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions over a 30-year life cycle than a ventilation system that dehumidifies air quality to the same extent. In the simulation calculations, the wall and ceiling components were also compared with a clay plaster that has been used since time immemorial and also passively regulates the air humidity in indoor spaces. This old technique proved to be even more climate-friendly than the hygroscopic components. However, the plaster has a lower storage capacity for water vapour.
The research at ETH has shown that the combination of geopolymer and 3D printing can be used to produce wall and ceiling components for efficient moisture buffering. After this proof of concept, the technology is, in principle, ready to be further developed and scaled for industrial manufacture. At the same time, research continues. In a project with Turin Polytechnic and Aalto University, ETH Zurich is working to produce wall and ceiling components with even lower greenhouse gas emissions. Because one thing is clear: if Switzerland wants to achieve its net zero target by 2050, it needs buildings that cause as little greenhouse gas emissions as possible during construction and use.
For more information: Nature Communications
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering have used machine learning and 3D printing to create nano-architected materials that combine the strength of carbon steel with the lightness of Styrofoam. In a new paper, Professor Tobin Filleter’s team describes these nanomaterials, which offer exceptional strength, light weight, and customizability, potentially benefiting industries from automotive to aerospace.
“Nano-architected materials combine high-performance shapes, like making a bridge out of triangles, at nanoscale sizes, which takes advantage of the ‘smaller is stronger’ effect, to achieve some of the highest strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, of any material,” said Peter Serles, the first author of the new paper. “However, the standard lattice shapes and geometries used tend to have sharp intersections and corners, which leads to the problem of stress concentrations. This results in early local failure and breakage of the materials, limiting their overall potential. “As I thought about this challenge, I realized that it is a perfect problem for machine learning to tackle.”
Nano-architected materials are made of tiny building blocks or repeating units measuring a few hundred nanometres in size – it would take more than 100 of them patterned in a row to reach the thickness of a human hair. These building blocks, which in this case are composed of carbon, are arranged in complex 3D structures called nanolattices.
To design their improved materials, Serles and Filleter worked with Professor Seunghwa Ryu and PhD student Jinwook Yeo at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea. This partnership was initiated through the University of Toronto’s International Doctoral Clusters program, which supports doctoral training through research engagement with international collaborators.
The KAIST team employed the multi-objective Bayesian optimization machine learning algorithm. This algorithm learned from simulated geometries to predict the best possible geometries for enhancing stress distribution and improving the strength-to-weight ratio of nano-architected designs.
Serles then used a two-photon polymerization 3D printer housed in the Centre for Research and Application in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) to create prototypes for experimental validation. This technology enables 3D printing at the micro and nanoscale – creating optimized carbon nanolattices.
These optimized nanolattices more than doubled the strength of existing designs – withstanding stress of 2.03 megapascals for every cubic meter per kilogram of its density, which is about five times higher than titanium.
“This is the first time machine learning has been applied to optimize nano-architected materials, and we were shocked by the improvements,” said Serles. “It didn’t just replicate successful geometries from the training data; it learned from what changes to the shapes worked and what didn’t, enabling it to predict entirely new lattice geometries. Machine learning is normally very data-intensive, and it’s difficult to generate a lot of data when you’re using high-quality data from finite element analysis. But the multi-objective Bayesian optimization algorithm only needed 400 data points, whereas other algorithms might need 20,000 or more. So, we were able to work with a much smaller but an extremely high-quality data set.”
“We hope that these new material designs will eventually lead to ultra-lightweight components in aerospace applications, such as planes, helicopters, and spacecraft that can reduce fuel demands during flight while maintaining safety and performance,” said Filleter.
“This can ultimately help reduce the high carbon footprint of flying. For example, if you were to replace components made of titanium on a plane with this material, you would be looking at fuel savings of 80 liters per year for every kilogram of material you replace,” said Serles.
“Our next steps will focus on further improving the scale-up of these material designs to enable cost-effective macroscale components,” said Filleter. “In addition, we will continue to explore new designs that push the material architectures to even lower density while maintaining high strength and stiffness.”
For more information: Advanced Materials
Switching to building materials designed to store carbon dioxide could significantly advance net-zero greenhouse gas emission efforts. A new study estimates that using CO2-sequestering materials could capture up to 16.6 ± 2.8 gigatons of CO2 annually, nearly 50% of 2021’s global CO2 emissions. Reducing atmospheric CO2 and lowering emissions is crucial for slowing global warming. Construction materials, due to their widespread use and long lifespan, could serve as major carbon reservoirs. Van Roijen and her team suggest incorporating carbon aggregates into concrete and using bio-based components in bricks.
The study highlights that the carbon storage potential depends more on the volume of material used (e.g., cement, which stores less carbon per unit but is ubiquitous) than the amount of carbon stored per unit weight. However, challenges remain, including resistance from builders hesitant to adopt new materials due to liability concerns, limited availability of carbon-sequestering minerals, and the need for a carefully managed supply chain.
These challenges, underscore the importance of systemic changes to make these innovations viable.
For more information: Science
A recent study may provide insights into the distinctive coating on leafhoppers’ skin, potentially inspiring the creation of innovative new materials. Leafhoppers, which encompass over 20,000 small insect species, are adorned with hollow, soccer ball–shaped nanoparticles composed of proteins and lipids. These nanoparticles, known as “brochosomes,” were first identified in the 1950s. They help the insects’ skin repel water and minimize light reflection. The exact shape and size of brochosomes vary among different species.
Elizabeth Bello, a graduate student in Marianne Alleyne’s entomology lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, applied techniques developed by materials scientists to pick up brochosomes individually, compress them, and study their mechanical properties. The balls’ size, shape, and material properties determine how well they resist compression and cling to surfaces, Alleyne reported earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Further study of brochosomes could help the development of materials with a wide range of applications, including waterproofing, camouflage, self-cleaning surfaces, and even data encryption and anticounterfeiting devices.
For more information: Science Advances
The Department of Energy has announced funding $179 million for three Microelectronics Science Research Centers that bring together multi-institutional, multidisciplinary projects in partnership with industry organized around making microelectronics more energy efficient and able to operate better in extreme environments.
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Imina Technologies, Switzerland, is now the exclusive supplier of Electrical Failure Analysis solutions from point electronic GmbH, Germany.
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Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating simple electronic device components that proved effective in recent tests, indicating that self-assembly for more complex electronics, such as 3D computer chips, could be possible.
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