Composites

Bioinspired material puts the squeeze on plastics

Materials Today: A bioinspired composite material made from all-natural raw ingredients could offer a possible alternative to petroleum-based structural plastics, according to researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei [Guan et al., Nature Communications (2020) 11:5401,…

Metallic material produces magnetic deflection without magnetic field

Materials Today: Electric current is deflected by a magnetic field. In conducting materials, this leads to the so-called Hall effect, which is often used to measure magnetic fields. Now, in collaboration with scientists from Rice University, the Paul Scherrer Institute in…

Nanowire-filled film makes excellent electromagnetic shield

E&T Magazine: Researchers from the University of California-Riverside have demonstrated a flexible polymer film which combines electromagnetic shielding with electrical isolation. The University of California engineers developed a film which uses a quasi-one-dimensional nanomaterial filler. The result is an excellent electromagnetic…

How One Scientist Is Giving Old Phones a Second Life With E-Waste Microfactories

Discover Magazine: Not all waste has to go to waste. Most of the world’s 2.22 billion tons of annual trash ends up in landfills or open dumps. Veena Sahajwalla, a…