Materials

A huge chunk of energy usage goes towards heating and cooling homes and buildings, so it’s important to find new ways to regulate temperature passively. A new wood-based foam could drastically cool buildings to a degree that can be easily tuned.

A new type of desalination membrane uses a series of nanoscale tubes lined with a Teflon-inspired material that repels salts while allowing water to flow through with little friction. The team says it's fast, and requires little pressure and energy.

The production of traditional Portland cement is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, as the ingredients have to be heated to very high temperatures. Such is not the case with a new biocement, however, which also incorporates waste materials.

While we may think of wood as being earthy and natural, wooden materials such as plywood typically contain formaldehyde-based adhesives that give off toxic fumes. Such is not the case with a new adhesive, which is made from glucose and citric acid.

It’s an unfortunate truth that many important chemical reactions require rare and expensive metals as catalysts. But now, scientists have developed a device that actively tweaks plain old aluminum to make it behave like other metals on the fly.

Inspired by seashells, scientists at Sandia National Labs have engineered a versatile new material that’s incredibly inexpensive, strong, lightweight, and heat resistant. The material could find use in shielding for spacecraft or fusion facilities.

Over the past couple of years, disposable face masks have become a very plentiful form of garbage. There may actually be a use for them, however, as recent research shows that they could strengthen concrete when added to it.

Scientists regularly turn to nature for inspiration in their pursuit of next-generation materials, and engineers studying the porous microstructures of bone and wood have come up with a clever example of biomimicry with wide-ranging potential.

With a view to constructing more durable components that can withstand the very harsh environments in an around aircraft and jet engines, NASA researchers have developed a novel metal alloy with an impressive set of qualities at extreme temperatures.

Researchers in Japan have shown that a common material is excellent at storing and releasing heat, which could be useful for recycling industrial waste heat. The material exchanges water with the air, allowing it to quickly absorb or release heat.

A new study has assessed the value of concrete made with crumb rubber from discarded tires by using it as a residential slab and monitoring its performance over several years, where it outshone conventional concrete in a number of ways.

Industrial piping has a hard life, as it's constantly exposed to liquids that can damage its inner surface over time. A new polymer coating could help protect such pipes, while removing toxic metals from the liquids as it does so.