T.C. Mike Chung, professor of materials science and engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, received a three-year, $1.12 million grant to develop super-absorbent materials designed to store natural gas under less extreme pressures and temperatures than those required today.
Robert Hickey, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, is investigating new processes to identify and create these materials through a five-year, $600,000 National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.
To further shrink electronic devices and to lower energy consumption, the semiconductor industry is interested in using 2D materials, but manufacturers need a quick and accurate method for detecting defects in these materials to determine if the material is suitable for device manufacture. Now a team of researchers has developed a technique to quickly and sensitively characterize defects in 2D materials.
A wearable gas sensor for health and environmental monitoring
Use of an AC rather than a DC electric field can improve the piezoelectric response of a crystal. Now, an international team of researchers say that cycles of AC fields also make the internal crystal domains in some materials bigger and the crystal transparent.
A device to quickly capture and identify various strains of virus has been developed, according to researchers at Penn State and New York University.
Researchers at Penn State have been awarded more than a combined $3.3 million to support advancements in the performance and efficiency of combustion turbines and turbine-based power cycles in fossil fuel power generation.
Electric vehicle owners may soon be able to pull into a fueling station, plug their car in, go to the restroom, get a cup of coffee and in 10 minutes, drive out with a fully charged battery, according to a team of engineers.
Bacteria and other swimming microorganisms evolved to thrive in challenging environments, and researchers struggle to mimic their unique abilities for biomedical technologies, but fabrication challenges created a manufacturing bottleneck. Microscopic, 3D-printed, tori — donuts — coated with nickel and platinum may bridge the gap between biological and synthetic swimmers, according to an international team of researchers.
Joshua Robinson, associate professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE), and Natalie Briggs, doctoral candidate in MatSE, are hoping their accidental discovery could join the list of some of science’s most welcome surprises that revolutionized the way we approach medicine and medical testing.