Polymers and soft materials news, January 2018

Plant-inspired ‘nanowrinkles’ too slippery for marine bacteria

Inspired by the pitcher plant, scientists have shown that a surface coating of 'nanowrinkles' on polymers can prevent biofouling by marine bacteria.

The development of a new lithium-ion conducting ceramic textile could get us a step closer to practical solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Operating according to simple mathematical logic statements, a novel hydrogel will only release its drug cargo in response to specific physiological cues.

A nanostructure made from a fluoropolymer and metal oxide materials allows thin-film transistors to operate with unprecedented stability.

New technique offers strong and resilient ultrafine polymer fibers with a range of applications.

A novel process called gel electrospinning can produce ultrafine polymer fibers that are exceptionally strong and tough.

Asymmetrical polymer particles imprinted with DNA are able to bind together in a spatially defined manner for use in biomedicine and 'soft robotics'.

Read our latest series and find out about materials science researchers in New Zealand and Australia.

Jellyfish-inspired triboelectric nanogenerator can harvest energy from waves and power sensors that can detect fluctuations in the water surface.

3D tattoos light up for chemical sensing.

Improved DNA detection using nanopore sensors.

Novel bioactive nanocomposite hydrogel based on hyaluronic acid and self-assembled bisphosphonate-magnesium nanoparticles facilitates bone regeneration.

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Researchers have shown that conerting waste plastics into graphene by rapid flash Joule heating also results in the production of hydrogen.

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‘Engineered living material’ that decontaminates pollutants from water

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Environmental benefits and impact (LCA) of Geopolymers: Not only cement and away from alkali-activated materials.

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carbon fiber reinforced composite combined with piezoelectric nanoparticles acts as a self-powered sensor to detect stress and damage

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