new material

A versatile new kind of polymer can be used on its own like regular rubber, or mixed with filler materials including used PVC and carbon fiber to create brand new composites, which can in turn be recycled in an almost endless loop.

Imagine getting a flat tire, and just smearing on a chemical that makes the rubber meld seamlessly back together. That’s the kind of breakthrough researchers are now reporting, with a new material made of waste products and easily recyclable itself.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have succeeded in replicating an adaptive mineralization process in the lab, showing off a new type of material that alters its stiffness as more force is applied.

Researchers have created a new ultra-tough structure whose strength had only been theorized previously. The nanoscale carbon lattice made using 3D printing technology boasts a much greater strength-to-density ratio than diamonds.

We're used to thinking of fakes and forgeries with disdain, but a new innovation from the University of Oxford looks set to buck that trend: fake rhinoceros horn. Rhino populations have been devastated by poaching due to demand for their horn.

Ceramic aerogels are incredibly light and can withstand intense heat. The problem is they can be pretty brittle. Now, a team has developed a new ceramic aerogel that’s far hardier and more flexible, even after repeated exposure to wild temperature swings.

Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have developed a new material that senses how warm a person’s body is and automatically adjusts how much heat it traps or releases.

For a few years scientists have predicted a fifth kind of phosphorus should be possible, but it had yet to be confirmed. Now, researchers in Germany have managed to show that blue phosphorus does exist, and mapped out its different properties.

​As useful as it is, plastic isn’t the most environmentally-friendly material. To try to wean us off it, chemists at Colorado State University have now developed a polymer that apparently has all the benefits, but can be easily broken down and recycled over and over.

Aluminum is nice and light, but that comes at the cost of strength. By introducing faults into the metal’s crystalline structure, researchers at Purdue University have now developed new aluminum alloys that are about as strong as stainless steel, and they could make for corrosion-resistant coatings.

Working with cellulose from trees, researchers have produced fibers claimed to be as strong as steel, and versatile enough to replace strands of fiberglass or lengths of cotton whilst still remaining biodegradable.