#jun lou

Freeze-Dried Foam Soaks up Carbon Dioxide

Rice University materials scientists have created a light foam from two-dimensional sheets of hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN) that absorbs carbon dioxide.

They discovered freeze-drying h-BN turned it into a macro-scale foam that disintegrates in liquids. But adding a bit of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) into the mix transformed it into a far more robust and useful material.

The foam is highly porous and…

Graphene Foam Gets Big and Tough

A chunk of conductive graphene foam reinforced by carbon nanotubes can support more than 3,000 times its own weight and easily bounce back to its original height, according to Rice University scientists.

Better yet, it can be made in just about any shape and size, they reported, demonstrating a screw-shaped piece of the highly conductive foam.

The Rice lab of chemist James Tour tested its new…

Self-Adaptive Micron-Scale Material Heals Itself

C O N T E N T S: KEY TOPICS The material, called SAC (for self-adaptive composite), consists of sticky, micron-scale rubber balls that form a solid matrix.(More…) The material has the ability to heal itself and to regain its original shape after extraordinary compression.(More…) POSSIBLY USEFUL Compared to existing self-healing and self-stiffening materials, SAC offers distinct advantages in the…

NSF funds Industry/University Center for Atomically Thin Coatings

Image of an atomically thin coating. Image: M. Breshnehan

The study and development of atomically thin coatings will be the focus of a one of a kind National Science Foundation funded university/industry center.

Led by Penn State, in collaboration with Rice University in Houston, the Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC) will design and develop…