Materials Science

Materials Science

Gold Deposits: Scientists design nanoparticle films

In a step toward a cheaper, easier way to connect computer chips to computers, scientists have patterned semiconductors with a film of extremely small gold particles.

Materials Science

Nanotube ID: New signatures aid nanotech progress

Researchers have developed a means for rapidly distinguishing among 33 semiconducting varieties of carbon nanotubes.

Materials Science

Worm’s teeth conceal odd mineral material

A worm's teeth contain a copper mineral that could serve as a model for new materials.

Materials Science

Knitting with nanotubes

Researchers can draw fine yarns of carbon nanotubes from a reservoir of the microscopic cylinders.

Materials Science

Metal Manipulation: Technique yields hard but stretchy materials

Researchers have combined a standard metalworking technology—rolling—with a programmed sequence of cooling and heating steps to process copper into a form that contains both nanoscale and microscale crystal grains.

Materials Science

Molecular Separations: New artificial sieve traps molecules

Researchers have created a metal-laced organic solid that acts as a sieve with nanosize pores for capturing molecules.

Materials Science

Carbon nanotubes do some bonding

Researchers have welded together carbon nanotubes to make junctions that could be useful in the construction of tiny electronic devices.

Materials Science

Bigger, Cheaper, Safer Batteries: New material charges up lithium-ion battery work

A new material could make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries smaller, cheaper, and safer.

Materials Science

The Buck Starts Here

The U.S. Mint performed some neat tricks to make a golden dollar.

Materials Science

Materials with Memory

Metal alloys and polymers that can remember a preprogrammed shape may literally reshape technologies ranging from warfare to medicine and car repair.

Materials Science

Fridge Magnets and Chemistry

Theres a tiger on your fridge! Lurking inside refrigerator magnets of the flat, flexible variety are magnetic-field stripes of alternating polarity. This University of Wisconsin Web site explains how fridge magnets work, shows how you can use such magnets to learn about magnetic force microscopy, and suggests experiments involving fridge magnets to model how metals […]

Materials Science

Rice hulls could nourish Silicon Valley

Scientists are developing ways to extract and purify the silicon that occurs naturally in rice hulls.