Polymers and soft materials news, November 2017

Scientists take charge of self-assembly in synthetic polymers

By taking advantage of electrostatic charge, scientists have induced synthetic polymers to self-assemble in a defined sequence, just like proteins.

Piezoelectric scaffold squeezes cells into action

3D piezoelectric fibrous scaffold stimulate stem cell differentiation and tissue formation.

Mussel power for building better elastomers

New elastomers at a stretch thanks to inspiration from nature.

Novel process can print catalysts to order

Researchers have developed a 3D printing process that can create a chemically active catalytic object in a single step.

Presentation of 11th Feng Xinde Prize for the Best Chinese Paper Published in Polymer in 2016

Wet mussels inspire stretchy but strong dry polymer

Inspired by the polymeric threads used by marine mussels, scientists have developed an elastomeric polymer that is both flexible and strong.

Plastic MOF for printing inexpensive sensors and fuel cell batteries

A marriage between 3D printer plastic and metal-organic frameworks could lead to inexpensive sensors and fuel cell batteries.

Nanoparticles shine new light on inflammatory disease

Luminescent nanoprobe enables noninvasive, real-time imaging of inflammation-associated diseases.

Body heat powers new thermoelectric generators

Harvesting energy from body heat to drive wearable thermoelectric generators.

Let's stick together

Elastic surgical adhesive developed.

Open Access publications from 22nd International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions in Controlled Fusion Devices now available

Ali Khademhosseini, recipient of the 2018 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal

Jeffrey Hubbell, recipient of the 2018 Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal

Nikhilesh Chawla, recipient of the 2018 Acta Materialia Silver Medal

Subhash Mahajan, recipient of 2018 Acta Materialia Gold Medal

New stretchable material inspired by octopus camouflage

How cephalopods control their texture influences new stretchable material.

Octopus camouflage inspires fast-changing stretchable material

Inspired by the octopus, engineers have developed polymer-based stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing.

3D nanoelectronics ease computing bottleneck

3D nanoelectronic system made up of stacked layers of carbon nanotube transistors and random-access memory cells could improve computational devices.

Fluorine holds magnetic attraction for boron nitride

Fluorine transforms the two-dimensional, ceramic insulator hexagonal boron nitride into a wide-bandgap semiconductor with magnetic properties.