Tag: material engineering

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A New Way to Beat the Heat: Scientists Develop an ‘Elastocaloric’ Cooling Device 

by Brittany Linnfigures by Swathy Karamchedu To escape the oppressive summer heat, many of us seek the cool retreat of air-conditioned shopping centers, movie theaters, and public buildings; however, traditional air-conditioning systems are not without environmental consequences. Climate change awareness has inspired numerous laws and regulations to phase out chemicals produced by air-conditioning systems that contribute to climate change. Liquid refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) … Continue reading A New Way to Beat the Heat: Scientists Develop an ‘Elastocaloric’ Cooling Device 

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Mending a Broken Heart: A new post-heart attack adhesive patch speeds healing

Heart attack is a leading cause of death, and often results in damage by overstretching the heart muscle. Once overstretched, the weakened heart muscle is less efficient at pumping blood, and it’s hard for the muscle to recover once the damage is formed because the heart is always beating. It can’t ever stop to heal. Researchers from Brown University and Fudan University have developed an … Continue reading Mending a Broken Heart: A new post-heart attack adhesive patch speeds healing

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The Secret to a Spider’s Superpowered Silk

If you have ever swatted a spider web away from a dusty corner of the house, congratulations—you have unknowingly dismantled one of the toughest materials known to man. The silk which spiders use to spin their webs and capture prey is five times stronger than steel, yet lightweight and more flexible than rubber. Because of these remarkable properties, scientists have been trying for years to … Continue reading The Secret to a Spider’s Superpowered Silk

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Scientists draw from nature to build a material that is both stiff and tough—a rarity in material science

In material science, it is difficult to engineer a material that is both highly stiff and tough. In the past, scientists have increased the stiffness of soft polymers by adding nano-sized particles of stiff materials (e.g. carbon nanotubes, silica), but this does not increase the toughness. Drawing inspiration from structures in nature that are both stiff and tough, scientists injected a flexible elastomer disc with pockets of liquid gallium. Compared to control structures, the addition of liquid gallium significantly increased the stiffness and toughness of the overall structure. While this study leaves us with several questions, it demonstrates that putting liquid inside of solid doesn’t necessarily make the combined material softer, thus contradicting a long-standing theory in the material-science world. Continue reading Scientists draw from nature to build a material that is both stiff and tough—a rarity in material science

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