Phys.org December 20, 2024 Although porous structures should favor colonization by microorganisms, they have not yet been exploited as abiotic scaffolds for the development of living materials. Researchers in Switzerland developed porous ceramics that are colonized by bacteria to form an engineered living material with self-regulated and genetically programmable carbon capture and gas-sensing functionalities. The carbon capture capability was achieved using wild-type photosynthetic cyanobacteria, whereas the gas-sensing function was generated utilizing genetically engineered E. coli. Hierarchical porous clay was used as a ceramic scaffold and evaluated in terms of bacterial growth, water uptake, and mechanical properties. Using state-of-the-art chemical analysis […]
Tag Archives: Ceramics
Nontoxic ceramic could replace lead-based electronic components
Phys.org August 24, 2024 Electrostrictors, materials developing mechanical strain proportional to the square of the applied electric field, present many advantages for mechanical actuation as they convert electrical energy into mechanical, but not vice versa. Both high relative permittivity and reliance on Pb as the key component in commercial electrostrictors pose serious practical and health problems. An international team of researchers (Israel, USA – Brown University, Stony Brook University) showed that ZrxCe1-xO2 has low relative permittivity, and electromechanical properties as electrostrictors – longitudinal electrostriction strain coefficient, and relaxation frequency. They showed that the elastic dipoles in ZrxCe1-xO2 are formed only […]
Exploding and weeping ceramics provide path to new shape-shifting material
Phys.org November 17, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – University of Minnesota, Germany) discovered that the systematic tuning of crystal lattice parameters to achieve improved kinematic compatibility between different phases is a broadly effective strategy for improving the reversibility, and lowering the hysteresis, of solid–solid phase transformations. They showed that when cooling the kinematically compatible ceramic (Zr/Hf)O2(YNb)O4 through its tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase transformation, the polycrystal slowly and steadily falls apart at its grain boundaries or even explosively disintegrates. However, when they tuned the lattice parameters to satisfy a stronger ‘equidistance’ condition, the resulting material exhibits reversible behaviour with low […]