NUS PhD student Mr Liu Wei showing the two-dimensional graphene-like polymer (left), and a piece of carbon paper coated with the novel material (right).
Credit: National University of Singapore
Polymers, such as plastic and synthetic textiles, are very useful technological commodities...
The power of the sun, wind and sea may soon combine to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel, according to a team of Penn State researchers. The team integrated water purification technology into a new proof-of-concept design for a sea water...
A team of scientists including researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has studied a catalyst that decomposes nerve agents, eliminating their harmful and lethal effects. The research was published Friday, April 19, in the Journal...
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," relies on water, sand and other chemicals to clear the way for engineers to remove oil or gas from shale—porous rocks below the ground.
Engineers know what they are pumping into the ground, but...
Humans can get by in the most basic of shelters, can scratch together a meal from the most humble of ingredients. But we can't survive without clean water. And in places where water is scarce—the world's deserts, for example—getting...
A schematic illustration of a microbial fuel cell using a paper electrode coated with carbon paste. Credit: Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester
The concept behind microbial fuel cells, which rely on bacteria to generate an electrical current, is more than a...
When it comes to designing and optimizing mechanical systems, scientists understand the physical laws surrounding them well enough to create computer models that can predict their properties and behavior. However, scientists who are working to design better electrochemical systems,...
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder's Soft Materials Research Center (SMRC) have discovered an elusive phase of matter, first proposed more than 100 years ago and sought after ever since.
The team describes the discovery of what scientists call...
Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mixture of bacteria and yeast similar to the "kombucha mother" used to ferment tea.
Using this mixture, also called a SCOBY...
Researchers have shown how industries could work together to recycle cigarette butts into bricks, in a step-by-step implementation plan for saving energy and solving a global littering problem.
Over 6 trillion cigarettes are produced each year globally, resulting in 1.2...
The strongest synthetic materials are often those that intentionally mimic nature.
One natural substance scientists have looked to in creating synthetic materials is nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl. An exceptionally tough, stiff material produced by some mollusks and serving as their inner shell...
