Materials

It can be frustrating, when the jacket that you initially put on to keep you warm starts making you too hot. Jackets made from an experimental new reversible fabric, however, could both heat and cool their wearer.

As useful a material as leather is, it isn’t too environmentally friendly. Now, engineers at Tufts University have created a new leather-like material out of silk, which can be 3D printed into shape and easily recycled into new products as needed.

Scientists at Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have produced a completely renewable version of see-through wood thanks to the addition of a fruit peel extract, which also happens to make it more translucent than previous versions.

In most grocery stores, all of the fresh produce is either pre-wrapped in plastic film or it gets placed in plastic bags – both of which are often discarded by consumers. A new bioactive paper bag, however, could serve the same purpose while being easily recyclable.

Waterproof coatings do make products such as outerwear much more useful, but they also drive up the price. A new coating, though, is claimed to be 90 percent cheaper to produce, while still being highly effective and more eco-friendly.

Extracting and refining copper into a useful form can be energy intensive and requires harsh chemical treatments. But now researchers at the University of Houston have discovered bacteria that naturally convert toxic copper ions into metallic copper.

A newfound understanding around the intricate architecture of lobster underbellies has provided MIT engineers with a model for a tough and stretchy new hydrogel, which features great durability and resistance to tearing.

Both cars and electronic appliances require heat removal systems, typically made of steel or aluminum. That may soon change, though, as scientists have created two magnesium alloys which they claim can reduce the weight of such systems by a third.

As anyone with arthritis will know, cartilage plays a vital role in allowing our joints to move freely. Scientists have now replicated its qualities in a synthetic self-lubricating material, that only needs occasional infusions of water.

Most plastics don’t break down easily – and when they do, they create problematic microplastic particles. A new type of compostable plastic is embedded with enzymes that, when triggered, quickly break the material down to its constituent molecules.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have put forward a new formula for stronger concrete that not only removes a large amount of damaging materials from the equation, but makes use of upcycled waste clay at the same time.

Concrete is pretty useful, which is why it’s the most widely used construction material in the world. Now, engineers have made it even more useful, creating concrete that can conduct electricity and produce heat, by mixing in nanocarbon black.