University of Maryland

4D smart scaffolds for tissue engineering

While 3D bioprinting is widely used to construct complex biocompatible structures, researchers are now attempting to extend the technique into the fourth dimension. Here, 3D printed objects can be made to "self-transform" over time, which means that they can take on different forms or functions when exposed to physical stimuli such as osmotic pressure, heat, current UV light or other energy sources.

Why a robot can't yet outjump a flea

When it comes to things that are ultrafast and lightweight, robots can't hold a candle to the fastest-jumping insects and other small-but-powerful creatures. New research could help explain why nature still beats robots, and describes how machines might take the lead.

A higher-energy, safer and longer-lasting zinc battery

A team of researchers has created a water-based zinc battery that is simultaneously powerful, rechargeable, and intrinsically safe.

Psst! A whispering gallery for light boosts solar cells

Trapping light with an optical version of a whispering gallery, researchers have developed a nanoscale coating for solar cells that enables them to absorb about 20 percent more sunlight than uncoated devices.

New fuel cell has exceptional power density and stability

A team of researchers has created a new fuel cell offering both exceptional power densities and long-term stability at optimal temperatures, a discovery that heightens the viability of incorporating fuel cells into a sustainable energy future.

3D printed implants could improve treatment for hearing loss

Researchers using CT scans and 3-D printing have created accurate, custom-designed prosthetic replacements for damaged parts of the middle ear, according to a study.

Water-based lithium-ion batteries without explosive risks now reality

Researchers have developed for the first time a lithium-ion battery that uses a water-salt solution as its electrolyte and reaches the 4.0 volt mark desired for household electronics, such as laptop computers, without the fire and explosive risks associated with some commercially available non-aqueous lithium-ion batteries.

Improving understanding of the quantum world with quantum dots

Quantum behaviour plays a crucial role in novel and emergent material properties, such as superconductivity and magnetism. Unfortunately, it is still impossible to calculate the underlying quantum behaviour, let alone fully understand it.

Optomec teams with Lockheed and GE to secure NextFlex contract award

The project, entitled "Conformal Printing of Conductor and Dielectric Materials onto Complex 3D Surfaces" has a total value on $3.1 million.

Compelling evidence of ferroelasticity in perovskites

Crystalline materials known as perovskites could become the next superstars of solar cells.

Ultra-thin solution to obstacle in solid-state battery development

A team of researchers have announced a transformative development in the race to produce batteries that are at once safe, powerful, and affordable.

Tiny diamonds could enable huge advances in nanotechnology

Nanomaterials have the potential to improve many next-generation technologies. They promise to speed up computer chips, increase the resolution of medical imaging devices and make electronics more energy efficient.

More salt, more power

A team of researchers have developed a battery that is at once safer, cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and more powerful—by adding a pinch of salt.

A view through wood shows futuristic applications

Researchers have made a block of linden wood transparent, which they say will be useful in fancy building materials and in light-based electronics systems.

Inventors to change future of lithium ion batteries

Researchers are revolutionizing energy storage with a new class of aqueous electrolytes that makes batteries and other electrochemical devices safer, cheaper, and greener.

Battery technology with off-the-charts charging capacity

Researchers have invented nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times, moving us closer to a battery that would never require replacement.

Scientists blend coinage metals to obtain alloys better than gold

Scientists have developed a novel method for altering the light reflected or absorbed by a material by match-making combinations of gold, silver, and copper into various mixtures of metals, or alloys.

Rechargeable batteries that crush the competition

By chemically modifying and pulverizing a promising group of compounds, scientists have potentially brought safer, solid-state rechargeable batteries two steps closer to reality.

3D printing enables new generation of heat exchangers

Researchers have used 3D printing to prototype one of the most important enabling technologies in a building—the heat exchanger.

You'll never be-leaf what makes up this battery

Scientists have a new recipe for batteries: Bake a leaf, and add sodium.