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Automated experiments can accelerate research and development. ‘Flexible automation’ enables the cost- and time-effective design, construction and reconfiguration of automated experiments. Flexible automation is empowering researchers to deploy new science and technology faster than ever before.
New classes of functional soft materials show promise to revolutionize robotics. Now materials scientists must focus on realizing the predicted performance of these materials and developing effective and robust interfaces to integrate them into highly functional robotic systems that have a positive impact on human life.
Nanoarchitecture design of materials offers great opportunities to achieve unusual properties, but requires fabrication techniques that ensure sufficient resolution and material quality.
Research continues to showcase the versatility and application potential of perovskites, while our understanding of their structural and mechanical properties continues to improve.
DNA is much more than the genetic information it carries. It is a versatile material for creating systems with tailor-made functionalities that are having an important impact in emerging technologies.
Gabriele Rainò, Lukas Novotny and Martin Frimmer discuss the approach they are pursuing at ETH Zürich to provide students with an education in quantum engineering.
Technological civilization often depends on processes that have a significant environmental impact, but emissions control catalysts or porous adsorbent materials can ameliorate these risks.
The area confined between grains in polycrystalline materials can undergo phase transformations under external stimuli, providing prospects for materials design based on grain boundary phase engineering.
The Biden administration proposed a huge boost in US federal research spending. Materials science, and many other fields, would win big if Congress agrees to the president’s sweeping agenda.
Suhas Eswarappa Prameela, K. T. Ramesh and Tim Weihs highlight how students and postdocs can develop their competencies and skills during research collaboration.
The next stage of the Graphene Flagship is marked by a €20 million investment for an experimental Pilot Line, promoting the transition of devices based on two-dimensional materials from research to industry.
From the discovery of the Seebeck effect in the nineteenth century to its application in the latest space probes, thermoelectrics have carved out a niche for reliable applications.
Over the last few years, there has been a shift towards the use of three-dimensional multicellular structures that more closely recapitulate native tissues and organs as tools to understand development, physiology and pathology.
