News by Subject Technology & Engineering

Researchers have been working for decades on improving the anti-icing performance of functional surfaces and work published in AIP Advances investigates a unique nanostructure, modeled on moth eyes, that has anti-icing properties. Moth eyes are of interest because they have a distinct ice-phobic and transparent surface. The researchers fabricated the moth eye nanostructure on a quartz substrate that was covered with a paraffin layer to isolate it from a cold and humid environment.

Iowa State and University of Texas engineers have developed high-fidelity computational models of replacement heart valves to examine the performance of biological tissues built into the valves. They found that thinner tissues can flap and flutter, which can damage the valves and even the blood that flows by.

Researchers from the University of Johannesburg have shown that plantain, a starchy type of banana, is a promising renewable source for an emerging type of lighter, rust-free composite materials for the automotive industry. The natural plantain fibres are combined with carbon nanotubes and epoxy resin to form a natural fibre-reinforced hybrid polymer nanocomposite material. The composite has 31% more tensile and 34% more flexural strength than the epoxy resin alone.

The movement of fluids through small capillaries and channels is crucial for processes ranging from blood flow through the brain to power generation and electronic cooling systems, but that movement often stops when the channel is smaller than 10 nanometers. Researchers led by a University of Houston engineer have reported a new way to stimulate the fluid flow by using a small increase in temperature or voltage.

New research by Northwestern Engineering and Georgia Institute of Technology expands the understanding of origami structures, opening possibilities for mechanical metamaterials to be used in soft robotics and medical devices.

Selective laser sintering is one of the most widely used processes in additive manufacturing, but it is limited to printing with a single material at a time. Columbia engineers have used their expertise in robotics to develop a new approach to overcome this limitation: By inverting the laser so that it points upwards, they've invented a way to enable SLS to use--at the same time--multiple materials.

Researchers have demonstrated a technique that allows them to produce streams of liquid metal at room temperature. By applying a low voltage to the liquid metal, the researchers were able to tune its surface tension across at least three orders of magnitude.

A research team led by scientists of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently discovered the disordered nanoscale layers at grain boundaries in the ordered intermetallic alloys. The nanolayers can not only resolve the irreconcilable conflict between strength and ductility effectively, but also maintain the alloy's strength with an excellent thermal stability at high temperatures. Designing similar nanolayers may open a pathway for the design of new structural materials with optimal alloy properties.