Materials

Plastics are tough, which is great when in use but not so good in the environment. Scientists have developed a new PET-like plastic derived from waste plant matter that can be chemically recycled or degrade into harmless sugars in the environment.

Scientists experimenting with the makeup of metal alloys used for medical implants have made a significant breakthrough, resulting in a biomaterial with the flexibility and wear resistance needed for long-term stints in the human body.

Changing up the recipe could help roads last longer. Researchers in Australia have now shown another advantage of adding rubber from old tires to asphalt – extra Sun protection that could help roads last up to twice as long before cracking.

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.

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.

The color-changing skin of the squid has inspired a new type of infrared-reflecting, metalized polymer film with tunable heat-management properties that could make it useful in everything from coffee cups to shipping containers.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new shock-absorbing material that is super lightweight, yet offers the protection of metal. The stuff could make for helmets, armor and vehicle parts that are lighter, stronger and reusable.

It’s a cruel irony that huge amounts of water are floating around in the air, inaccessible. Researchers have now developed a salty hydrogel that can pull plenty of fresh drinking water out of air in relatively low humidity.

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have forged a new type of ultralight armor material described as a nanofiber mat, which features a unique chemistry that enables it to outperform Kevlar and steel.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a strange new nanocrystal material that switches between gel and liquid states in response to temperature or other triggers. It could be used to make light filters or thermal camouflage.

Scientists experimenting with a cutting-edge ultrasound technique have come up with a groundbreaking way to measure the elasticity of materials at a microscopic scale, by tracking sound waves as they bounce across individual crystals.