Show Notes 22 November 2024
Story 1: Soft as skin, strong as steel: Powerful magnetic muscles lift 1000x their weight
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Mrigakshi Dixit
- Soft, human-like artificial muscles are vital for robotics, wearables, and medical devices.
- A team of researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology in South Korea has developed an innovative magnetic composite artificial muscle. This new material can adapt its stiffness, transitioning from soft to rigid, and vice versa.
- It has been engineered to be as soft as skin but remarkably strong.
- Moreover, this material’s stiffness is a mind-boggling 2,700 times that of traditional materials [used to date for soft robotics applications]. This new technology could significantly benefit soft robotics and wearable technology.
- While traditional soft materials [to act as muscles] are great for smooth movements, they fall short regarding strength and precision. Particularly, the existing materials used to date are too rigid to lift heavy weights and too flexible to maintain precise control.
- In this new development, researchers have tried to overcome these issues.
- For this, they used materials that could switch between hard and soft states. The researchers combined two key materials: ferromagnetic particles and shape memory polymers.
- The ferromagnetic particles respond to magnetic fields, allowing the muscle to be controlled remotely. They also contribute to the muscle’s strength.
- Side note – Ferromagnetic particles are materials that exhibit strong magnetic properties due to the alignment of their magnetic moments. These particles can be magnetized to become permanent magnets.
- What is a magnetic moment? Magnetic moment refers to the strength and orientation of a magnet or other object that produces a magnetic field. It’s a fundamental property of magnetic objects.
- On the other hand, the shape memory polymers can change shape in response to specific stimuli (like heat or light) and then return to their original shape. This allows the muscle to be highly adaptable and change its stiffness.
- Side note – more on shape memory polymers per Co-Pilot input:
- Shape memory polymers are a type of smart material that can return to their original shape after being deformed when triggered by an external stimulus, such as temperature change, light, or an electric field. This unique ability is known as the shape memory effect.
- Here’s a brief overview of how SMPs work:
- Permanent Shape: SMPs have a permanent shape that they “remember.”
- Temporary Shape: When deformed and exposed to a specific stimulus (like heat), they can adopt a temporary shape.
- Recovery: Upon re-exposure to the stimulus, SMPs revert to their permanent shape.
- SMPs have a wide range of applications, including medical devices, textiles, aerospace, and more. For example, they can be used in self-deploying structures in space or in medical stents that expand at body temperature.
- By combining Ferromagnetic particles with shape memory polymers, the researchers created a new type of artificial muscle that is both strong and flexible.
Story 2: Novel electrochemical reactor can extract lithium from brine to address growing demand
Source: TechXplore.com Story from Rice University announcement
See also their research paper here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2410033121
- A team of Rice University researchers has developed an innovative electrochemical reactor to extract lithium from natural brine solutions, offering a promising approach to address the growing demand for lithium used in rechargeable batteries.
- Reminder – Think of brine as a super-concentrated version of salt water.
- This breakthrough, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, holds significant potential for renewable energy storage and electric vehicles.
- Lithium is a critical component in batteries for renewable energy storage and electric vehicles, but traditional lithium extraction methods have faced numerous challenges, including high energy requirements and difficulty separating lithium from other elements.
- Natural brines—in specific, salty water found in geothermal environments—have become an attractive lithium source, because traditional ore sources are increasingly difficult and expensive to mine.
- However, these brines also contain ions other than lithium, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, which have very similar chemical properties to lithium, making efficient separation extremely challenging.
- Reminder – Ions are atoms or molecules that have gained or lost one or more of their electrons, resulting in a net electrical charge.
- The similarity in ionic size and charge between lithium and these other ions means that traditional separation techniques often struggle to achieve high selectivity, leading to additional energy consumption and chemical waste.
- Moreover, brines contain high concentrations of chloride ions that can lead to the production of hazardous chlorine gas in traditional electrochemical processes, adding further complexity and safety concerns to the extraction process.
- The Rice engineering team has tackled these challenges with a novel three-chamber electrochemical reactor that improves the selectivity and efficiency of lithium extraction from brines.
- Unlike traditional methods, this new reactor introduces a middle chamber containing a porous solid electrolyte that prevents these unwanted reactions by controlling ion flow as the brine passes through.
- Side note – an electrolyte is a substance that produces ions when dissolved in water or another solvent, thereby making the solution capable of conducting electricity. Electrolytes are vital for many physiological processes in living organisms and are also used in various industrial applications.
- This middle chamber exchange membrane acts as a barrier to chloride ions, preventing them from reaching the electrode area where they could combine to produce chlorine gas and thereby minimizing hazardous by-products.
- The key component that enables highly selective lithium extraction lies in the specialized lithium-ion conductive glass ceramic membrane on the other side of the electrolyzer, which selectively allows lithium to pass through while blocking other ions.
Story 3: New chemical process makes biodiesel production easier, less energy intensive – Discovery by UC Santa Cruz researchers could accelerate biofuel’s adoption
Source: UC Santa Cruz News Center Story by Jasmin Galvan
Link: https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/11/biodiesel-easier-process.html
For a tutorial on Biodiesel Vs. Diesel: What’s The Difference, see: https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/biodiesel-vs-diesel-what-s-the-difference/ar-BB1m2ylb?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=4926c33f368e4ba8afdca6d9069698bb&ei=68
- UC Santa Cruz chemists have discovered a new way to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil that both simplifies the process and requires relatively mild heat. This discovery has the potential to make the alternative fuel source much more appealing to the massive industrial sectors that are the backbone of the nation’s economy.
- Side note – Used vegetable oil, often referred to as yellow grease or recycled cooking oil, comes from several sources such as restaurants and food processing facilities.
- Side note, I asked Co-Pilot AI the following:Does the use of biofuels in combustion engines produce less CO2 than gasoline?
- The answer – Yes, for example, corn ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 44% to 52% compared to gasoline.
- While some companies have turned towards electric vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint, the vast majority of fleets still run on diesel—in part, because biodiesel production is difficult, energy intensive, and so, has slowed adoption.
- Of all the energy sources used by the U.S. transportation sector in 2022, biofuels accounted for just 6%. ***Note, 2022 is the latest year I could find statistics on this***
- In their study, recently published in the American Chemical Society Journal Energy & Fuels, lead author Kevin Lofgren details a new way to turn used vegetable oil into biodiesel that involves sodium tetramethoxyborate.
- This chemical, used to make the active ingredient that reacts with vegetable oil to make biodiesel, is considered unique because it allows the biofuel to be easily separated from the byproducts of production—by simply pouring them off.
- Another benefit is reaction can be completed in under an hour at temperatures as low as 40°C (104°F)—saving energy and money.
- According to the UC Santa Cruz researchers, the method they discovered turns about 85% of used vegetable oil into biodiesel and passes almost all industry standards for use as fuel in heavy machinery and transportation vehicles.
- The exception was water content, though, it was only slightly higher than the acceptable value. The researchers expect that once this process is scaled up, the water content will be within acceptable levels.
Story 4: Scientists turn blood into bone-repairing superpower to fight injuries and diseases
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Mrigakshi Dixit
See also: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g20y29wrvo
- Our bodies have an incredible ability to repair themselves, especially when the damage is small. ***such as small cuts***
- Inspired by this natural healing process, researchers at the University of Nottingham have unlocked the potential of blood to create transformative regenerative materials.
- The research team has harnessed the regenerative power of blood to create a new “biocooperative” material. ***later in the article you’ll find that this refers to mimicking natural healing processes***
- Interestingly, this innovative blood-derived material has shown the potential to repair damaged bones in animal models.
- This could open doors to personalized regenerative treatments to address various injuries and illnesses.
- Alvaro Mata, who led the development, noted, “For years, scientists have been looking at synthetic approaches to recreate the natural regenerative environment, which has proven difficult given its inherent complexity. Here, we have taken an approach to try to work with biology instead of recreating it.”
- As noted before, our bodies are incredibly efficient at repairing minor injuries like cuts and scrapes. This ability is largely due to the complex process of tissue regeneration.
- When we injure ourselves, the body immediately responds by forming a blood clot. This clot acts as a temporary patch, preventing further blood loss.
- The blood clot then transforms into a specialized tissue called the regenerative hematoma. This regenerative hematoma is a dynamic environment filled with various cells, proteins, and growth factors essential for healing.
- However, larger injuries may overwhelm the body’s natural healing abilities, requiring medical intervention.
- In this new study, the University of Nottingham researchers learned from this process and developed a way to enhance it.
- For this development, the team utilized peptide molecules to engineer living materials that accelerate tissue regeneration by mimicking natural healing processes.
- Side note – Peptide molecules are short chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. They are smaller than proteins, which are made up of one or more long chains of amino acids.
- They combined synthetic peptides with a patient’s own blood, resulting in a self-assembling material.
- This approach enabled the engineering of regenerative materials that mimic and improve the natural regenerative hematoma’s structure and function.
- The researchers demonstrated the ability to effectively repair bone in animal models, utilizing the animals’ own blood.
Honorable Mentions:
Story: Researchers create novel electro-biodiesel more efficient, cleaner than alternatives
Source: Washington University Newsroom Story by Beth Miller
- Joshua Yuan, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, and Susie Dai, a MizzouForward Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Missouri, and their collaborators at Texas A&M University, have used electrocatalysis of carbon dioxide to create an electro-biodiesel that is 45 times more efficient and uses 45 times less land than soybean-based biodiesel production. Results of their work were published online Oct. 31 in Joule.
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Story: MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical –
A new electrode design boosts the efficiency of electrochemical reactions that turn carbon dioxide into ethylene and other products.
Source: MIT News Story by David Chandler
Link: https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-engineers-make-converting-co2-into-products-more-practical-1113
- As the world struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers are seeking practical, economical ways to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into useful products, such as transportation fuels, chemical feedstocks, or even building materials. But so far, such attempts have struggled to reach economic viability.
- New research by engineers at MIT could lead to rapid improvements in a variety of electrochemical systems that are under development to convert carbon dioxide into a valuable commodity. The team developed a new design for the electrodes used in these systems, which increases the efficiency of the conversion process.
- The findings are reported today in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT doctoral student Simon Rufer, professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi, and three others.
- “The CO2 problem is a big challenge for our times, and we are using all kinds of levers to solve and address this problem,” Varanasi says. It will be essential to find practical ways of removing the gas, he says, either from sources such as power plant emissions, or straight out of the air or the oceans. But then, once the CO2 has been removed, it has to go somewhere.
- A wide variety of systems have been developed for converting that captured gas into a useful chemical product, Varanasi says. “It’s not that we can’t do it — we can do it. But the question is how can we make this efficient? How can we make this cost-effective?”
- In the new study, the team focused on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethylene, a widely used chemical that can be made into a variety of plastics as well as fuels, and which today is made from petroleum. But the approach they developed could also be applied to producing other high-value chemical products as well, including methane, methanol, carbon monoxide, and others, the researchers say.
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Story: Soft robotic shorts could assist older adults and people with limited mobility while walking
Source: TechXplore Story by Ingrid Fadelli
Link: https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-soft-robotic-shorts-older-adults.html
- Researchers at Heidelberg University (now in force at the Technische Universität München–TUM) recently introduced WalkON, a new assistive system that could improve the walking efficiency of older adults and people with limited mobility. This system, presented in a paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence, consists of a pair of soft robotics shorts that can support the flexion of hips while walking.
- This project is part of a broader research effort involving two different consortia, namely SMARTAGE and HEIAGE, that focuses on developing digital technology and intelligent assistive systems for older adults.
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Story: Signs of Lung Cancer Can Now Be Detected When You Exhale
Source: ScienceAlert.com Story by David Nield
Link: https://www.sciencealert.com/signs-of-lung-cancer-can-now-be-detected-when-you-exhale
- Ultra-sensitive monitors may one day routinely have the ability to detect lung cancer on someone’s breath.
- A small-scale test using a prototype device has demonstrated it can accurately detect the difference between eight healthy individuals and five people with lung cancer.
- The device, built by a team led by researchers from Zhejiang University in China, looks for the compound isoprene. Lower isoprene levels have been identified as a potential indicator of lung cancer, but it’s a small shift that’s very difficult to measure.
- Now, we have the technology to do it – at least in a proof-of-concept form. As with most cancers, the earlier lung cancer is detected the better the chances of effectively treating it – and there’s potential here for a simple, affordable, quick, and non-invasive way of checking for the disease.