Materials Science

Materials Science

Water Repellency Goes Nano: Carpet of carbon nanotubes cleans itself

Forests of carbon nanotubes coated with Teflon yield a superhydrophobic material—the ultimate self-cleaning surface.

Materials Science

A Soft Touch: Imaging technique reveals hidden atoms

Researchers have devised a new imaging technique for visualizing every carbon atom in the basic unit of graphite.

Materials Science

Charging cartilage

A hybrid material made of biodegradable polymers and carbon nanotubes yields an optimal scaffold for growing cartilage.

Materials Science

Soft spheres yield photonic structures

A novel technique for patterning light-guiding channels through photonic crystals made of hydrogel nanoparticles may lead to faster, all-optical telecommunications technologies.

Materials Science

Molecular Memory: Carbon-nanotube device stores data in molecules

Scientists have created a memory device in which data are encoded in switching molecules called catenanes that are attached to a carbon nanotube.

Materials Science

Sopping Up Heavy Metal: Hybrid material removes mercury from water

A hybrid material consisting of a bacterial protein and a temperature-sensitive polymer proves efficient at removing mercury from contaminated water.

Materials Science

Plastic Chips: New materials boost organic electronics

A new class of electrically conducting organic molecules provides researchers with improved materials with which to fabricate plastic electronic devices.

Materials Science

Titanium makes move toward mainstream

Inventors of a new process for producing titanium claim that their method can reduce the metal's cost to one-third its current price.

Materials Science

Layered Approach

A decade-old method for creating thin coatings is poised to move from the lab to countless low- and high-tech products.

Materials Science

Worm’s Jaws Show Mettle: Zinc links may inspire new materials

New analyses of the jaws of marine worms may lead scientists to better ways of making synthetic materials.

Materials Science

Miniature Motor: Nanotubes central to new rotating device

Researchers have used miniature, nested cylinders, called multiwalled carbon nanotubes, to make a motor only 300 nanometers long.

Materials Science

Tiny Labs: Polymers on silicon chip catch, release proteins

In a step toward a new laboratory-on-a-chip technology, researchers have grown a dense polymer film on a silicon wafer that takes up and releases proteins on command.