Over the past decade, polymer composites have emerged as a new class of high performance materials with unique and desirable material properties such as strength, weight and rigidity. These composites...
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Lithium niobate is used in the fabrication of a wide variety of optical and electro-optic devices, including optical modulators, switches, frequency shifting devices, polarized controllers and pulsed ...
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Nanoparticles are important components in the development of sensor, aerosol, filter, biomedical, dielectric, optical and electronic applications. Various procedures to produce nanoparticles exist; ho...
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Ductile iron (DI) and compacted graphite iron (CGI) exhibit excellent castability, allowing the production of thin-wall castings. However, rapid cooling during solidification of these thin-wall castin...
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The extreme characteristics of diamond, including hardness, wear-resistance, biocompatibility, optical transparency and electric insulating properties, make it very useful for a range of industrial ap...
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Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is one of the most promising techniques for creating semiconductor devices, integrated circuits and microelectronic devices with nanoscale features (i.e., smaller...
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Semi-solid casting (SSC) is a high-integrity die casting technique, wherein metal is injected into a mold cavity in a semi-liquid/solid state with a “slushy” consistency. Semi-solid metal ...
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To date, plasma-enhanced surface modification of materials has been performed mostly under vacuum, due to the high efficiency of plasma discharge at low pressure. However, not only are vacuum systems ...
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Ferroelectric materials, such as crystalline lithium niobate, are very useful for fabricating a variety of optical and electronic devices, including optical switches and modulators, frequency switchin...
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Lithium batteries, such as those found in wristwatches, cell phones and computers, are typically filled with a viscous, liquid polymer electrolyte. These batteries are often preferred over conventiona...
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The Staudinger ligation method for synthesizing peptides requires phosphinothiol reagents that are not commercially available. The current method for making phosphinothiols is complicated (involving f...
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Foldamers are synthetic protein oligomers with discrete and predictable folding properties akin to those of natural proteins. They provide molecular tools to investigate large-molecule interactions su...
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Before DNA or proteins can be attached to a surface during the making of microarrays, the surface must be functionalized, i.e., chemically prepared to carry functional groups capable of...
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Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) exhibit unique properties including high strength, excellent wear and corrosion resistance, high resistance to fractures and outstanding castability. They are also inexpen...
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As the development of nanoscale devices increases, the need for materials and methods that can duplicate nanoscale patterns over large areas is growing. Block copolymer materials are useful in nanofab...
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Levulinic acid is a biomass-derived compound that can be obtained inexpensively in high yields from a variety of waste cellulose-containing materials. It has been identified as a top biomass-derived c...
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Recent surveys have identified welding of dissimilar metals as a top priority in materials joining technology. Friction-stir welding currently is the best potential process for welding dissimilar meta...
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In friction stir welding (FSW), a rotating, cylindrical tool with a pin on its end is slowly plunged into a workpiece and moved along the joint to be welded. As the tool rotates, it generates friction...
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Heat exchangers are used in chemical processing; power production; household appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators and space heaters; and even automobile radiators.  Plate heat excha...
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Hydrocarbon feedstocks currently are extracted from petroleum reserves in the ground and combusted to generate energy. They are transported easily as liquids, but are non-renewable and their comb...
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Increasing demand of petrochemical resources to produce the energy and chemical materials required by industrialized societies with growing populations combined with a diminishing supply has resulted ...
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Unnatural polymers that contain β- and γ-amino acids are known as "foldamers." These foldamers form long-lasting, predictable structures that are very stable and resistant to prot...
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Bioactive surfaces created by binding biomolecules to the surface of inorganic substrates are used in many bioassays, biosensors, and other devices. One common approach to functionalizing surfaces so ...
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Many of the compounds used in drug discovery by pharmaceutical companies are glycosylated, bacterial secondary metabolites. A glycosylated metabolite consists of a central core structure (aglycon) and...
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Production of faster, more powerful microelectronics requires that device features continue to shrink in size. Current lithographic processes based on chemically amplified resists routinely pattern fe...
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