Materials Sciences

Ames Lab Researchers Modify Old Technique to Make 3-D Multilayered Structures

Achieving a first in the world of novel optical materials, researchers at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are making 3-D photonic band gap crystals four millimeters square (approximately one-eighth of an inch square) and 12 layers high without benefit of a “clean room” environment or the multimillion dollar equipment traditionally required to create such structures. The fundamental res

A startling discovery about the properties of human bone has been made by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The scientists describe their results –– finding a sort of “glue” in human bone –– in the cover story of the August issue of the international scientific journal, Nature Materials. The article was published on-line on July 17. It describes how healthy bone resists fracture and how unhealthy bone fractures at the molecular level. Included with the ar

Scientists have shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes make an ideal scaffold for the growth of bone tissue. The new technique could change the way doctors treat broken bones, allowing them to simply inject a solution of nanotubes into a fracture to promote healing.

The report appears in the June 14 issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal Chemistry of Materials. ACS is the world’s largest scientific society.

The success of a bone graft de

There is no doubt that steel is one of the materials that has largely contributed to the technological and economical development of the twentieth century. Its mechanical and magnetic properties are determined by its chemical composition and the microstructure obtained in its manufacturing process. Traditionally, it has been necessary to mechanically destroy the material in order to analyze its microstructure by means of a microscope, i.e. to get a small sample, to polish it and to attack it wit

A team of chemists at Penn State has developed a new type of ultrathin film, which has unusual properties that could improve the fabrication of increasingly smaller and more intricate electronic and sensing devices. The material, a single layer made from spherical cages of carbon atoms, could enable more precise patterning of such devices with a wider range of molecular components than now is possible with conventional self-assembled monolayers. The research is published in the current issue of

The emergence of acupuncture is allowing some patients to relieve or significantly reduce dry mouth’s debilitating effects, according to a report in the May/June 2005 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.

Dry mouth (also known as xerostomia) is a painful condition caused by a decrease in the amount of saliva in the mouth when salivary glands do not work properly. Saliva is a natural defense for teeth and p