Every summer, fields across Britain produce something the construction industry needs in enormous quantities: material. Around 9.9 million tonnes of straw comes from UK cereal farming each year, and researchers at the University of Bath believe some of it could provide a renewable alternative to more carbon-intensive building materials. At the moment, that barely happens. … [Read more...] about Straw could help UK meet housebuilding targets
Materials
New model tackles hydrogen risk in aircraft
Hydrogen has long been considered a possible route to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from aviation, but storing fuel at temperatures below −250°C creates some unusual engineering problems. One of them happens inside the metal itself. Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a model that could help engineers predict how hydrogen atoms move through metallic … [Read more...] about New model tackles hydrogen risk in aircraft
Reimagining the Battery: When the Structure Becomes the Energy Store
What if an electric bicycle’s frame was also its battery? Or an aircraft wing could store some of the electricity needed to power the aircraft? A new UK research programme is exploring a future in which batteries are no longer separate objects hidden inside products, but become part of the structures themselves. Researchers at Imperial College London, Durham University and … [Read more...] about Reimagining the Battery: When the Structure Becomes the Energy Store
Scientists discover diamonds can generate electricity
For more than a century, diamond has been regarded as non-piezoelectric, meaning it should not generate an electrical voltage when mechanically deformed. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have now discovered that diamond can behave very differently when it is made extremely thin and flexible. The team, led by Professor Zhiqin Chu and Professor Yuan Lin, used … [Read more...] about Scientists discover diamonds can generate electricity
Nanoscale coating boosts condensation heat transfer by up to 5.5 times
Getting water to condense isn't particularly difficult. Getting it to condense efficiently, and then move out of the way quickly enough for the process to start again, is rather more complicated. Engineers at KAIST have developed an ultrathin polymer coating that tackles both sides of that problem. Applied to copper tubes, the surface achieved condensation heat transfer … [Read more...] about Nanoscale coating boosts condensation heat transfer by up to 5.5 times