Engineering publications brought to you by Mark Allen

Materials

A flexible textile supercapacitor patch, created by Drexel University researchers, can power a microcontroller and wirelessly transmit temperature data for nearly two hours without a recharge

Flexible supercapacitor patch adds power to textile wearables

The team’s new sensor makes use of PEDOT-Cl-coated cotton sandwiched between electrodes

New material solves pressure problem in wearable sensors

Images of uncoated (top left, right) and coated (bottom left, right) nylon-6,6 fabrics after nine washing cycles taken by a scanning electron microscope

Coating cuts amount of microplastic fibres entering waterways

Bath aerogel spinout eyes aerospace market

The material contains a layer that can take on two conformations: solid copper that retains most infrared heat, which helps keep the building warm; or a watery solution that emits infrared, which can help cool the building

Building material offers low-energy solution to maintaining temperature

Twistrons, made from spun CNTs, convert mechanical movement into electricity. Scanning electron microscope images show how UT Dallas researchers made a new kind of twistron by intertwining three individual strands of spun carbon nanotube fibres to make a single yarn, similar to the way conventional yarns used in textiles are constructed. A previous version of a harvester (right) was made by coiling the CNT fibres. The scale bars indicate 100 micrometres

Carbon nanotube ‘twistrons’ harvest mechanical energy to generate electricity

Tokamak Energy to put materials through rigours of fusion conditions

Switchable MXenes enable secure communications

Collaboration to advance molecular modelling for advanced materials

Nano barrier adds layer of protection to spacecraft

Illustration of the high-efficiency metal-free battery developed by KAUST researchers

Metal-free batteries raise hope for eco-friendly grids

Copper imprinted on fabric (top) is replaced with a metal-organic framework (bottom) capable of detecting and capturing toxic gases.

Smart textile coating detoxifies gases