Tag Materials
Move over, solar: The next big renewable energy source could be at our feet
A UW–Madison team's inexpensive, simple method to make flooring from wood pulp converts footsteps into usable electricity. Read More
Tiny high-performance solar cells turn power generation sideways
The miniature solar panels could power myriad personal devices — wearable medical sensors, smartwatches, even autofocusing contact lenses. Read More
New material, picked by computers, could boost power of vacuum electronics
Engineers at UW–Madison have identified a substance that could vastly improve the technology for devices such as microwave ovens and X-ray machines. Read More
New material combines useful, typically incompatible properties
A team of engineers and physicists has created an entirely new material in which completely contradictory properties can coexist. Read More
Built-in shades may protect delicate sensors from blinding light
Even commonplace laser pointers can fry the optics of sensitive cameras. Optical limiters may be able to shade those eyes. Read More
Making molecules comfy: Ultimate challenge for UW’s ‘Glass Guy’
"If you ask an ordinary person, ‘What is glass?’ they will point to a window, but glass is a much broader category of materials,” says Mark Ediger. Read More
Nanosheet growth technique could revolutionize nanomaterial production
Tiny sheets of the semiconductor zinc oxide could have huge implications for the future of a host of electronic and biomedical devices. Read More
Tunable materials clear the way for advanced optics
In books and movies, wizards use magic spells to make the visible see-through. In reality, materials with properties called phase transitions can pull off a similar trick. Read More
Designed defects in liquid crystals can guide construction of nanomaterials
Imperfections running through liquid crystals can be used as miniscule tubing, channeling molecules into specific positions to form new materials and nanoscale structures, according to engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The discovery could have applications in fields as diverse as electronics and medicine. Read More
Souped-up software reduces guesswork, tedium in computer-aided engineering
A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers recently released a new computer-aided engineering software program, and its users are already calling it a "gift from heaven." Read More
Discovery of a highly efficient catalyst eases way to hydrogen economy
Hydrogen could be the ideal fuel: Whether used to make electricity in a fuel cell or burned to make heat, the only byproduct is water; there is no climate-altering carbon dioxide. Read More
Discovery in growing graphene nanoribbons could enable faster, more efficient electronics
Graphene, an atom-thick material with extraordinary properties, is a promising candidate for the next generation of dramatically faster, more energy-efficient electronics. However, scientists have struggled to fabricate the material into ultra-narrow strips, called nanoribbons, that could enable the use of graphene in high-performance semiconductor electronics. Read More
Cages offer new direction in sustainable catalyst design
University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have developed a new approach to structuring the catalysts used in essential reactions in the chemical and energy fields. The advance offers a pathway for industries to wean themselves off of platinum, one of the scarcest metals in the earth's crust. Read More
Catalyzing materials research across Wisconsin
Throughout the University of Wisconsin System, there is a wealth of materials expertise, equipment and research facilities - but connecting those resources across campuses and between academia and industry often depends on serendipity and informally built connections. Read More
One hot idea: Thermal spray makes metal better
A company spawned by an experiment on lawn mower blades has mushroomed into a national leader in high-temperature coatings that alter the surface properties of metal. Read More
New materials repel oil underwater, could better clean up oil spills
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have announced a significant step forward in the development of materials that can ward off oil - a discovery that could lead to new protective coatings and better approaches to cleaning up oil spills. Read More
Solution-grown nanowires make the best lasers
Take a material that is a focus of interest in the quest for advanced solar cells. Discover a "freshman chemistry level" technique for growing that material into high-efficiency, ultra-small lasers. The result, disclosed today [Monday, April 13] in Nature Materials, is a shortcut to lasers that are extremely efficient and able to create many colors of light. Read More
Lighting up the lab: Team harnesses light for controlled chemical reaction
When chemist Tehshik Yoon looks out his office window, he sees a source of energy to drive chemical reactions. Plants “learned” to synthesize chemicals with sunlight eons ago; Yoon came to the field a bit more recently. But this week, in the journal Science, he and three collaborators detail a way to use sunlight and two catalysts to create molecules that are difficult to make with conventional techniques — a finding that may eventually have implications for drug making and materials science. Read More
‘Greener’ aerogel technology holds potential for oil and chemical clean-up
Cleaning up oil spills and metal contaminates in a low-impact, sustainable and inexpensive manner remains a challenge for companies and governments globally. But a group of researchers at UW–Madison is examining alternative materials that can be modified to absorb oil and chemicals. Read More