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NEW MRS Member Benefit!
Effective July 1, 2015, MRS members will receive a FREE electronic subscription to Journal of Materials Research (JMR)—access to full-text articles from the Journal’s inception in January 1986 to the current issue. For a complete list of MRS Member benefits, visit www.mrs.org/member-benefits.
Join or renew your membership in MRS today and enjoy these valuable benefits. |
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MRS Awards—Nominate a Colleague
Nominate an outstanding contributor to the progress of materials research for one of six prestigious awards from the Materials Research Society. For more information, and to submit your nomination, please go to www.mrs.org/awards.
Nomination Period Opens—July 1, 2015
Nomination Deadline—August 1, 2015 |
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Free access to a collection of essential research from MRS publications
MRS, in partnership with Cambridge University Press, publishes five distinct multidisciplinary journals:
- MRS Bulletin
2014 Impact Factor: 5.667, an increase of 12%
- MRS Communications
2014 Impact Factor: 1.821, an increase of 17%
- Journal of Materials Research (JMR)
2014 Impact Factor of 1.647 and cited half-life of >10 years
- MRS Energy & Sustainability--A Review Journal
Launched in 2014
- MRS Online Proceedings Library
6 million abstract views in 2014
We are delighted to offer you complimentary access to a collection of key research published in the last two years. |
MATERIALS NEWS
Keep up with materials research news through MRS!
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Materials in Focus
A wavelength-independent ‘universal’ substrate brings SERS into the mainstream |
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First developed in the 1970s, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has proven to be a sensitive laser-based technique for detecting and identifying small concentrations of chemical species and biomolecules deposited on substrates. Not just any substrate will do, however, and the lack of inexpensive substrates that work over a substantial range of laser wavelengths has been a thorn in the side of those confronted with mixtures of unknown species to analyze. A new “universal” (because it works over a broad wavelength range) substrate promises to overcome both the wavelength and cost obstacles while maintaining high sensitivity. |
Dislocation pileups in microcantilevers may be fully reversible |
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As key components in microelectro mechanical structures, small cantilevers are often subject to mechanical stress. This can result in the development of dislocation pileups, which can have a major impact on the behavior of the cantilevers. However, how such dislocation pileups are affected by the structure of the cantilevers, and in particular by the presence of different interfaces, is not well known. An article recently published in the Journal of Materials Research investigated how different cantilever designs affect dislocation behavior, and in particular how this can cause a reversal of dislocation pileups. |
Microscopic origami machine toggles between folded and unfolded states |
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Beginning in the 1980s, researchers realized that the techniques and rules that govern origami could also be used to explore and solve scientific problems such as tuning fundamental properties of thin sheets or creating programmable materials. Now, a microscale machine with a toggle switch joins the ranks of origami creations. |
Thermally-stable supercooled liquid exhibits shear-triggered light emission |
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Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivatives have been widely studied for their use as both bright pigments and a basic building block for conjugated polymers in electronic applications. A recent study uncovered unusual properties in a particular DPP molecule. The molecule, DPP8, does not crystallize even below its freezing point but crystallizes under shear conditions with a dramatic optical property change. The system is so sensitive that even the slight force of a single biological cell attaching to the surface is enough to trigger crystallization. |
3D printed spider webs show best distribution of silk for strongest web |
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Common garden spiders make small webs, centimeters across, to trap gnats and other small insects. Meanwhile, in Madagascar, the Darwin’s bark spider spins 25-meter creations that can stretch across rivers and withstand the forces of wind and larger insects. In both cases, the goal is the same: to create a strong, resilient, and lightweight structure while minimizing the amount of energetically costly silk used. Now researchers have determined that the optimal distribution of fiber in a spider web is determined by the type of the load the web will bear—and that spider webs in the wild reflect these principles. |
Nanowires promise reduced inflammation at the neural interface |
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Neural interfaces—devices designed to communicate with the nervous system—have the potential to deliver advances in medical care and brain research, but have been hampered by declines in performance over time, due to inflammation that separates healthy neural tissue from the interface. This occurs despite the use of biocompatible materials to create the interfaces. Now, a team of researchers from Lund University, Sweden, report on the effects of covering the interface with nanowires. |
Electron optics in graphene explore whispering-gallery modes |
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Electromagnetism is the basis of modern technology, and we manipulate it in a variety of different ways: To control light, optics uses lenses, mirrors, and resonators to bend beams of photons. To control electrical current, electronics uses switches, transistors, and diodes. Now an international research team has manipulated electrons at the nanoscale to apply optics techniques to an electrical current. |
Swelled gels crack cells |
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Epithelial cell sheets are fascinating, dynamic, and medically important biological materials that enable the proper functioning of key tissues such as hearts, lungs, and blood vessels. The composite architecture of these two-dimensional living materials includes not only cell–cell adhesions, but also intricate interactions between cellular sheets and gel-like environments. Laura Casares of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain, and her colleagues report an important mechanism of mechanical failure in epithelial cell sheets placed under tension. In some scenarios cell–cell junctions, surprisingly, do not fracture during applied tension. Rather, fracture occurs after stretching is relaxed, as a result of water pressure that builds up beneath the epithelial sheets in the hydrogel substrate to which the epithelial sheets are attached. |
Neural implant could provide targeted neuropathic pain relief |
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An estimated 7% of the population suffers from chronic neuropathic (sciatic) pain, which originates from disorders affecting or damaging the nerves. The drugs currently available for treatment are administered systemically, often causing potentially serious side effects. Researchers with Sweden’s Linköping University and Karolinska Institute have now developed an organic electronic ion pump that is able to locally deliver GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid)—a neurotransmitter that naturally suppresses neural signals, including pain signals, in the central nervous system (CNS)—directly at the points where problematic nerves enter the spinal cord. |
People in Focus
Industry Focus
5 materials innovations for new medical devices
The next frontier for electronics could lie inside the human body, with sensors that keep track of biomarkers and brain activity, systems to deliver drugs or monitor exercise levels, and communications networks that allow such devices to call on the processing power of your smartphone and send your data to the doctor’s office.
Quest to mine seawater for lithium advances
Predictions of lithium supply crunches have appeared with increasing frequency in recent years. Many analysts, though not all, believe that rising demand from makers of batteries for electric vehicles—particularly Tesla, whose forthcoming Gigafactory is expected to nearly double world lithium demand—is sure to strain supplies from traditional sources.
Utilities and solar companies fight over Arizona’s rooftops
The explosive expansion of US residential rooftop solar installations—which increased by 51 percent last year—threatens utilities’ traditional role as electricity suppliers. The resulting backlash has been most intense in sun-bleached Arizona, which is second only to California in installed solar capacity. The battle has the potential to blunt the state’s solar growth, but there are signs that it could also inspire grid-friendly technologies that expand solar’s role.
Policy Focus
A call for nanotechnology-inspired grand challenges
The Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking suggestions for Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade. A Grand Challenge is an ambitious but achievable goal that requires advances in science and technology to achieve, and that has the potential to capture the public’s imagination
US Advanced Manufacturing initiative opens research and development institute on fiber-reinforced composites
Fiber-reinforced composites could help create the next generation of lightweight energy-efficient vehicles, larger wind turbines that produce more energy, and resilient compressed gas storage tanks for vehicles that run on natural gas or hydrogen. But composites are expensive, energy-intensive to manufacture, and difficult to recycle. To overcome these barriers, the US federal government launched the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation.
For more science policy news, follow @MaterialsSciPol
OF INTEREST TO THE MATERIALS COMMUNITY
Profiles in Materials Science: Aditi Risbud
Dr. Aditi Risbud is gifted with a unique talent. She’s someone who can not only dig deep and understand very technical writing that is normally meant for scientists’ eyes, she is also able to translate those writings to the general public. In her first outreach experience, Dr. Risbud worked with junior high school girls. "I feel that as a young girl in seventh grade you lose interest in technology, science, and math," said Dr. Risbud. She was faced with the challenge of translating something very technical into something that seventh graders could understand. "It was a complete eye opener for me," she said. More.
Visualization Challenge
The National Science Foundation and Popular Science are cosponsors of the long-running Visualization Challenge, now called The Vizzies. The competition, which runs through September 15, 2015, aims to recognize some of the most illustrative and impactful visualizations from the worlds of science and engineering. More.
MEETINGS UPDATE
Critical Meeting Deadlines
PUBLICATIONS UPDATE
Critical Publications Deadlines
January 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(1)
Early Career Scholars in Materials Science |
Submission deadline:
7/1/2015 |
February 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(3)
Biomineralization & Biomimetics |
Submission deadline:
7/1/2015
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April 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(7)
Two-Dimensional Heterostructure Materials
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Submission deadline:
9/1/2015 |
June 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(11)
Advanced Materials and Structures for Solar Fuels
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Submission deadline:
11/1/2015
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July 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(13)
Advances and Challenges in Carbon-based Tribomaterials
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Submission deadline:
12/1/2015
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October 2016 - Journal of Materials Research 31(19)
Reinventing Boron Chemistry for the 21st Century
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Submission deadline:
3/1/2016
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Advertise in JMR.
JUST PUBLISHED
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From a special section on Polymers/Soft Matter (Part A)
Depolymerizable polymers: preparation, applications, and future outlook
Joshua A. Kaitz, Olivia P. Lee and Jeffrey S. Moore
Interwoven polymer composites via dual-electrospinning with shape memory and self-healing properties
Hossein Birjandi Nejad, Jaimee M. Robertson and Patrick T. Mather
Continuous and patterned deposition of functional block copolymer thin films using electrospray
Hanqiong Hu, Kristof Toth, Myungwoong Kim, Padma Gopalan and Chinedum O. Osuji
Real-time imaging of chromophore alignment in photorefractive polymer devices through multiphoton microscopy
Brittany Lynn, Alexander Miles, Soroush Mehravar, Pierre-Alexandre Blanche, Khanh Kieu, Robert A. Norwood and N. Peyghambarian
Get your free Android App or iOS App for MRS Communications for full mobile access to this journal. |
Get your free Android App or iOS App for MRS Bulletin for full mobile access to this journal.
Advertise in MRS Bulletin.
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A selection of papers:
A multilayered flexible piezoresistive sensor for wide-ranged pressure measurement based on CNTs/CB/SR composite
Ying Huang, Weihua Wang, Zhiguang Sun, Yue Wang, Ping Liu and Caixia Liu
Improved photocatalytic reactivity of ZnO photocatalysts decorated with Ni and their magnetic recoverability
Guoliang Yang, Qi Liu, Yinghuan Fu, Hongchao Ma, Chun Ma, Xiaoli Dong, Xinxin Zhang and Xiufang Zhang
Self-organization of Cu–Ag during controlled severe plastic deformation at high temperatures
Salman N. Arshad, Timothy G. Lach, Julia Ivanisenko, Daria Setman, Pascal Bellon, Shen J. Dillon and Robert S. Averback
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From Volume 1677, 2014 MRS Spring Meeting, Symposium M – Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Other Electrochemical Energy Systems:
Polybenzimidazoles with Pendant Quaternary Ammonium Groups as Anion Exchange Membranes: Synthesis, Characterization and Alkaline Stability
Mahesh P. Kulkarni, Timothy J. Peckham, Owen D. Thomas and Steven Holdcroft
From Volume 1681, 2014 MRS Spring Meeting, Symposium Q – Materials, Technologies and Sensor Concepts for Advanced Battery Management Systems:
Embedded Fiber Optic Sensing for Accurate State Estimation in Advanced Battery Management Systems
Lars Wilko Sommer, Ajay Raghavan, Peter Kiesel, Bhaskar Saha, Tobias Staudt, Alexander Lochbaum, Anurag Ganguli,Chang-Jun Bae and Mohamed Alamgir
From Volume 1683, 2014 MRS Spring Meeting, Symposium S – Actinides—Basic Science, Applications and Technology:
Spin fluctuations, Fermi surface hotspots and nesting in PuCoGa5
Matthias J. Graf, Tanmoy Das and Jian-Xin Zhu |
SCIENCE AS ART
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The Microcave
Magnus Jonsson, Linkoping University
Microcave formed by tape on silicon, captured by SEM.
A second-place winner in the Science as Art competition at the 2015 MRS Spring Meeting
Copyright for all Science as Art images belongs to the Materials Research Society. To request permission to re-use the images, please contact Anita Miller. |
EDITOR'S CHOICE VIDEO
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Wall Street Journal
Scientists Develop World's Smallest Light Bulb
Researchers have used graphene to create the world’s smallest light bulb. |
CAREER CENTRAL
Partial listing of classified ads from the upcoming July 2015 issue of MRS Bulletin
Auburn University
Faculty Position, Materials Engineering
The National Academies
Jefferson Science Fellowship
NEW PRODUCTS FOCUS
| Comprehensive Custom Manufacturing Services |
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Goodfellow has expanded its offering to include custom manufacturing and finishing of components to customers' precise specifications. Customers using this service no longer need to coordinate multiple suppliers to get the exact metal, ceramic or polymer component they require. Goodfellow can help customers select, if desired, the most suitable material(s) for the application, then manufacture the desired component to customer drawings and finish with custom coatings, surface treatments, etc. Those interested in this service are invited to send Goodfellow a drawing to receive a no-obligation assessment and cost estimate.
[Contact: [email protected] or 800-821-2870] |
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| New Capacitor Series for High Power DC/DC Converters |
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AVX Corporation has introduced the new TCR Professional Series tantalum chip capacitors with conductive polymer electrodes. Designed for use in high power DC/DC converters employed in telecommunications, industrial, and avionics applications that demand high reliability and long lifetime performance, TCR Professional Series capacitors are subjected to AVX’s maverick part control Q-Process with statistical screening and process control enhancement to ensure the removal of any components that may experience parametric shifts through customer processing or display instability through life testing. As such, the series exhibits high standard reliability of fewer than 0.5% failures per 1,000 hours at 85°C and rated voltage with 0.1Ω/V series impedance.
[Contact: [email protected] or 864-967-2150] |
To suggest items for inclusion in Industry News and New Products Focus, please contact Mary Kaufold at 724-779-2755.
ABOUT MATERIALS360®
Materials360 is edited by Judy Meiksin, News Editor, and produced by Kirby Morris, Electronic Communications Assistant, Materials Research Society.
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© Materials Research Society, 2015. All rights reserved. |
