Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Scientists in China have developed a new method for connecting energy devices without using wires. Not only are the devices easy to make, they continue to work even when bent or twisted – a vital trait for flexible electronics.

Traditionally, energy devices involve modules connected in a series by electrically conducting wires. Although this is the standard system, fabricating such devices is complicated and costly, and the risk of short circuits means these devices also pose a serious safety hazard.

Interested? The full article can be read in Chemistry World.

The original article can be read below:

Energy harvesting and storage devices fused into various patterns
H. Sun et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 14977-14984
DOI: 10.1039/C5TA03235K

The modules can be fused into various patterns, depending on the specific application

Scientists have discovered that a cheap and common sponge they use to clean surfaces and equipment in their lab has a very high capacity to absorb bisphenol A (BPA).

‘It was an accidental discovery,’ says Wei Qiu, from the University of Massachusetts, US, one of the researchers involved. ‘There was a big tank of waste BPA solution and while we were testing some other absorbent materials we accidentally dropped a sponge into the solution. We were curious and when we tested the waste solution we found a significant drop in BPA concentration and the only thing that could account for that drop was the sponge.’

Interested? The full story can be read at Chemistry World.

Domestic sponge fortuitously found to soak up bisphenol A

The original article can be read below:

Consumer-grade polyurethane foam functions as a large and selective absorption sink for bisphenol A in aqueous media
Jie Han, Wei Qiu, Saumya Tiwari, Rohit Bhargava, Wei Gao and Baoshan Xing
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 8870-8881
DOI: 10.1039/C5TA00868A

Researchers in China have taken inspiration from fish scales and skeleton flowers to make a transparent underwater surface that stays clean by repelling oil.

Light scattering means that many synthetic oil-repellent surfaces are opaque, limiting their use. A transparent, oil-repellent surface would have applications in biology and underwater optics, including in diving goggles and cameras. Now, Feng Chen’s research group at Xi’an Jiaotong University has developed such a material.

Interested? The full story can be read at Chemistry World.

In air (a) the surface is misty but underwater (b) it has high transparency and repels oil

The original article can be read below:

Bioinspired transparent underwater superoleophobic and anti-oil surfaces
Jiale Yong, Feng Chen, Qing Yang, Guangqing Du, Chao Shan, Hao Bian, Umar Farooq and Xun Hou
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5TA01104C

Inspired by a YouTube video, scientists in the US have confirmed that a simple bounce test can be used as a technique to indicate charge in a battery.

Alkaline AA batteries are one of the most common battery types and there are a range of approaches to assess the charge in these batteries, often entailing electronic indicators. Now, a team led by Daniel Steingart of Princeton University have correlated the coefficient of restitution (COR), a measure of bounce, with batteries at various charges and determined their charge to a similar degree of accuracy as in situ energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXRD).

Interested? Read the full story at Chemistry World.

A simple bounce test provides a considerable amount of information on the structure of a battery's anode

The original article can be read below:

The relationship between coefficient of restitution and state of charge of zinc alkaline primary LR6 batteries
Shoham Bhadra, Benjamin J. Hertzberg, Andrew G. Hsieh, Mark Croft, Joshua W. Gallaway, Barry J. Van Tassell, Mylad Chamoun, Can Erdonmez, Zhong Zhong, Tal Sholklapper and Daniel A. Steingart
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5TA01576F