The surface of the hybrid mortar (left) is covered with tiny crystalline spikes. This results in what is called the lotus effect. On untreated mortar (right) water is soaked into the material much easier.Credit: Stefan Grumbein / TUM
Moisture can...
Left to right: Roland Pellenq of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Katerina Ioannidou of the MIT Energy Initiative, and Franz-Josef Ulm of CEE have developed a detailed understanding of the nanoscale forces at work as cement...
Researchers have developed hierarchical metallic metamaterial with multi-layered, fractal-like 3-D architectures to create structures at centimeter scales incorporating nanoscale features.Credit: Jim Stroup/Virginia Tech
For years, scientists and engineers have synthesized materials at the nanoscale level to take advantage of their...
Emission spectra are a widely used method for identifying chemical compounds; the bright lines reveal the different frequencies of light that can be emitted by an atom. Here, a normal emission spectrum for an atom in a high-energy state...
Proponents of clean energy will soon have a new source to add to their existing array of solar, wind, and hydropower: osmotic power. Or more specifically, energy generated by a natural phenomenon occurring when fresh water comes into contact...
This is a scanning tunneling microscopic image of the quasicrystalline network built up with europium atoms linked with para-quaterphenyl-dicarbonitrile.Credit: J. I. Urgel / TUM
Unlike classical crystals, quasicrystals do not comprise periodic units, even though they do have a superordinate...
Plastic packaging might seem impenetrable -- and sometimes nearly impossible to remove -- but water molecules can still pass through. And this permeability to moisture can limit the lifespan of a product. To better protect goods such as electronics...
Credit: University of Manchester
A graphene hydraulic 'nano-press' has proved to be capable of creating new two-dimensional materials by exerting huge pressure on compounds sealed between layers of graphene.
Graphene, the world's first two-dimensional material, has a new property to add...
The public urinal installed this year at Glastonbury festival can generate enough electricity to light the cubicle's LED tubes.Credit: Bristol BioEnergy Centre (UWE)
Pee can be transformed into electricity with the help of bacterial metabolism, thanks to a device created...
Wetting and static friction depend on the surface.Credit: TU Wien
When rain falls on a lotus leaf, the leaf doesn't get wet. Thanks to its special structure, the water drops roll off without wetting the surface. Artificial materials can be...
This diagram depicts the way a mid-infrared laser (red cylinder, left) can send a beam through the atmosphere that generates filaments of ionized air molecules (multicolored beam, center, shown with magnified view). These filaments, which can be kilometers long,...
