Engineering & Technology Materials Science and Engineering

An international team of scientists from India and Singapore has successfully developed a novel method to recycle waste cigarette filters for use in making the triboelectric nano generator, a clean energy generating device.

A novel practical way of modelling cracking and toughening of fibre composite materials has been developed. The novel approach also revealed new insights on the fracture behaviour of fibres reinforcing a composite laminate during intralaminar cracking. The new way can be used to complement inspection of laminated structures that are used as primary structures in many industries.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters how to simulate 3D atomic force microscopy images of out-of-equilibrium systems involving biomolecules. The approach makes use of a celebrated equation from thermodynamics applicable to non-equilibrium situations.

Scientists at Tokyo Medical and Dental University have discovered a new type of bone repairing material that could be used to more precisely fix bone defects.

A model that rapidly searches through large numbers of materials could find sustainable alternatives to existing composites.

Researchers from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering have successfully developed a new technique allowing them to observe gas molecules packing into metal-organic frameworks (MOF) using infrared spectroscopy. Their innovation was to measure polarized light absorption of guest molecules in a MOF film to deduce molecule alignment using this common piece of lab equipment. This method is the first to show guest alignment and does so in real-time, while using an accessible and easily adoptable experimental setup. A short video (4 min) recreating their spectrometer modifications can be found in the Reference section.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University and Osaka University used numerical simulations to confirm observations of quantized vortices in superfluid helium using silicon nanoparticles, improving understanding of quantum fluids and superconductors.

2.5-dimensional materials promise new applications for artificial intelligence, electronics, automobiles and the energy sector.

Tile patterns in which the same shape is laid out without gaps are found in the compound eyes of insects. Hexagonal tile patterns are common while shrimp eyes have a square pattern. We investigated tile pattern formation using Drosophila and revealed that the compound eye tile pattern is controlled by a geometrical division mechanism, Voronoi tessellation, in addition to physical constraints determined by the combination of the regular distribution and growth of the individual eyes.

An international team of researchers from India and Singapore has successfully developed a novel coating with enhanced water repellent properties using natural material from the waste crab shell.

Milling rice to separate the grain from the husks, produces about 100 million tons of rice husk waste globally each year. Scientists searching for a scalable method to fabricate quantum dots have developed a way to recycle rice husks to create the first silicon quantum dot LED light. Their new method transforms agricultural waste into state-of-the-art light-emitting diodes in a low-cost, environmentally friendly way.

A multidisciplinary international team of researchers, led by Professor Shukur Abu Hassan, offers new insights about how the load-uptake capacity in a novel hybrid fiber reinforced polymer composite materials can be enhanced.

A team of materials researchers from India, Thailand, Malaysia, China and UK has successfully produced a fibre reinforced polymer composite material using natural fibres from the coconut stalk.

Malaysian and UK medical device and composite materials experts have partnered up to research into using natural fibres for prosthetic limb technology to lower the cost of the prosthesis

With the enhancement of Freeform Liquid 3D Printing, engineers and designers are now able to fabricate more intricate, yet stronger 3D printed soft robots.

Scientists have found a common substance that can reversibly and rapidly store and release relatively large amounts of low-grade heat without decomposing. The research could lead to more efficient reuse of industrial waste heat.

A magnetic hybrid system generates electricity day and night with radiative cooling and solar heating.

A quick, cost-effective approach improves the accuracy with which machine learning models can predict the properties of new materials.

A nanoparticle’s size is fine-tuned to offer high-resolution images before and during surgical procedures.

Scientists demonstrate an optical trapping technique using nanotextured black silicon that can efficiently trap polymer chains. By adjusting the laser intensity, these “optical tweezers” can control the florescence color emitted through a local concentration of a perylene-modified polymer solution. From a low intensity blue to high intensity orange, this reversible and fully remote technology can almost reach the entire RGB spectrum.

The compact, lightweight device generates electricity when shaken and can power 100 LEDs.

In a recent study published in the journal ACS Catalysis researchers from Kanazawa University describe novel scanning electrochemical cell microscopy measurements to determine sites of photoelectrochemical activity in titanium dioxide nanotubes.

This is a novel study that attempted to construct a pH-sensitive delivery system into T cells and their subsets using carboxy-terminal Phe- and CHex-modified dendrimers with different structures, i.e. PAMAM-CHex-Phe and PAMAM-Phe-CHex. The findings contribute to the development of nanoplatforms for direct delivery to T cells to control the functions of T cells, which play key roles in cancer immunotherapy. This is the first report on direct delivery into T cells using pH-sensitive DDS.

Low volcanic temperature ushered in global cooling and thriving dinosaurs, Broccoli compound induces cell death in yeast, A single molecule makes big splash in quantum mechanics, Dengue virus makes mosquitos bite more often, and Asia Research News: How it all began, all in the February's Editor's Choice

To meet the demand for strong and tough transparent thin films for sustainable applications, Dr Sunanda Roy from GLA University India has led a multi-national team to successfully develop a novel transparent thin film made from cellulose nanofiber (CNF) reinforced by glycerol & glutalraldehyde (reinforcing glycerol).

Accidental oil discharge into the river can lead to an environmental catastrophe, threatening the lives of countless aquatic animals as well as land animals that forms the ecosystem of the river. Preventing and containing many of the oil discharge is key to mitigating the severity of the catastrophe.

Researchers are working to overcome challenges in order to bring wearable, electric, wound-healing devices to clinical practice.

To meet the demand for alternative low-cost, sustainable, light weight and strong materials for two wheelers, Dr JS Binoj from Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College India has led a multi-national team to successfully develop a novel riser bar made from jute fibre reinforcing isophthalic polymer composite material.

An engineering project team, has been awarded the Institution of Engineers - Singapore, Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards 2021 in the Research & Development Category. The award was for their work on Replication & Repair of Hot Air Thermal Defects on Composite Aero-Structures.

Researchers from the The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science use electron energy loss spectroscopy to understand local thermal behavior at grain boundaries in polycrystals