March 21, 2024
Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at UC San Diego and Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months.
April 28, 2023
Using computer simulations and X-ray experiments, researchers could “see” in detail why lithium ions move slowly in a solid-state battery—specifically, at the electrolyte-electrode interface. The work could lead to new strategies to enhance ionic conductivity in solid-state batteries.
September 13, 2016
…funded by the National Science Foundation to help change the role of robots in factories and make it easier for machines to work alongside people. The goal of the project is to design an intelligent material delivery system, which supports and closely integrates with skilled workers in factories. The researchers…
January 29, 2021
An international team of researchers produced islands of amorphous, non-crystalline material inside a class of new metal alloys known as high-entropy alloys. This discovery opens the door to applications in everything from landing gears, to pipelines, to automobiles.
April 30, 2024
A new type of bioplastic could help reduce the plastic industry’s environmental footprint. Researchers have developed a biodegradable form of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filled with bacterial spores that, when exposed to nutrients present in compost, germinate and break down the material at the end of its life cycle.
July 7, 2016
…storage capability of a particular class of “lithium-rich” cathode materials—by using a carbon dioxide-based gas mixture to create oxygen vacancies at the material’s surface. Researchers said the treatment improved the energy density—the amount of energy stored per unit mass—of the cathode material by up to 30 to 40 percent.
December 17, 2019
Building upon decades of research on how to make boron carbide even more efficient, an engineering team at the University of Florida (UF) has been conducting simulations using SDSC’s Comet supercomputer to better understand the nanoscale level of this important material.
April 21, 2022
…shoe soles. When that material was finally developed, they set out to make a shoe that was also 100% biodegradable, which required developing 3D-knit sneaker upper material that was made entirely from plant fibers. When the shoes have outlived their usefulness, the polyurethane bottoms, known as Soleic Foam, along with…
December 18, 2023
Synchronicity has not been studied extensively in spiking oscillators, despite their potential for use in advanced materials and neuromorphic computing. UC San Diego scientists have discovered that when nano-oscillators made from vanadium dioxide spike, they exhibit a unique kind of synchronicity.
October 5, 2023
Gadgets and vehicles powered by the very materials they’re built from may soon be possible, thanks to a new structural supercapacitor developed by UC San Diego engineers. The device doubles as structural support and energy storage, potentially adding more energy capacity without adding weight.
