Research teams from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their technologies have received seven 2021 R&D 100 Awards, plus special recognition for a COVID-19-related project.
Seven ORNL technologies win R&D 100 awards
Controlling light with a material three atoms thick
Scientists use high-tech methods to control light in the laboratory, and now, thanks to a new breakthrough that uses a specialized material only three atoms thick, they can control light more precisely than ever before.
Heterostructures of atomically thin layers help control heat transfer
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have found new ways of controlling how heat flows through thin materials by stacking atomically thin layers of atoms into van der Waals heterostructures. By comparing different stacks of different materials, or even the same material after heat treatment, they found that weak coupling and mismatch between layers helped significantly reduce heat transport.
Engineers develop flexible, self-healing material to protect steel from the elements
An insulator of sulfur and selenium made with flexible devices in mind may have found its true destiny: As an anticorrosive coating for steel. The compound developed by the Rice University lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan proved itself more dielectric (insulating) than most flexible materials and more flexible than most dielectrics, making it a good candidate for components in electronics like bendable cellphones.
3D printing personalized, wireless wearables that never need a charge
University of Arizona’s new type of wearable device is 3D printed to custom fit the wearer and operates continuously using a combination of wireless power transfer and compact energy storage.