Material

The past few decades have seen an escalation of power densities in electronic devices, and in particular in microprocessor chips. Together with the continuing trend of reduction in device dimensions this has led to dramatic increase in the thermal issues within electronic circuits. The electrons, in their passage through the …

The world population is estimated to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. Ensuring an adequate food supply for such a large number of people would be challenging enough for agriculture. But climate change is putting even more pressure on farmers, agricultural companies, and crop scientists to protect plants from the effects …

Smart materials or Active materials or Functional materials are designed materials that have diverse, dynamic features that enable them to adapt to the environment. They have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion by external stimuli, the stimulus and response may be mechanical, electrical, …

A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing a nonmetallic mineral, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick.   With such a large range of possible options for the composition/structure of a …

The amount of electricity consumed worldwide grows by the year, and so does the demand for energy storage solutions since many devices often operate in autonomous mode. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have been workhorse of  the consumer electronics market including portable electronics, implantable devices, power tools, hybrid/full electric vehicles (EVs) and …

Phase change materials are substances that absorb and release thermal energy (heat) during the process of melting and freezing  at defined temperatures . They are called “phase change” materials because they  transition from one of the two fundamental states of matter – solid and liquid – to the other  during …

With the growing global concerns over climate change, scientists are looking for cleaner energy sources and other ways to minimize the carbon footprint in the world.  A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service. …

Tungsten is one of the hardest metals on the earth, and many scientists compare it to diamond. Tungsten is a dull silver-colored metal with the highest melting point of any pure metal. Pure tungsten melts at a whopping 6,192 degrees F (3,422 degrees C) and won’t boil until temperatures reach …

Many Military and Aerospace missions  are  going beyond the  classical mechanics through pursuit of higher, farther, deeper, faster, smarter, safer, healthier, and cleaner goals in material production, such as aerostats up to tens of kilometers in length, interstellar travel as far as several light-years, deep-sea submersibles that dive as deep …

Gallium nitride (GaN) is hot. Even hotter is a race to integrate GaN with other materials to boost GaN’s performance further.   The power electronics industry has seen the theoretical performance limit reached by silicon MOSFETs and now needs to move to a new element. GaN is a wide bandgap, …