"In 2020 flexible barrier manufacturing for flexible electronic devices such as displays will be a market worth more than US$184 million according to IDTechEx Research . That equates to 3.8 million square meters of flexible barrier films for electronics. Although multilayer approaches - usually organic and inorganic layers - have been the most popular solution for flexible encapsulation so far, there is significant development work with solutions based on single layer approaches such as flexible glass or atomic layer deposition (ALD) which could, in later years, capture part of the market. IDTechEx analysts describe some of the characteristics of flexible glass and ALD films as developers are looking to bring them to market."
  

"NASA has an ongoing need for high-temperature solid lubricant coatings to reduce friction and wear in turbine engines, rocket engines, and other mechanical systems. Such lubricants must be thermally and chemically stable in air, vacuum, and reducing environments like hydrogen. Traditional lubricants like oil, grease, and PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), and even more exotic solid lubricants like graphite and molybdenum disulphide, lack such capabilities. The key problem is to identify and formulate a material that possesses good mechanical properties, long-term environmental durability, and acceptable friction and wear-reducing characteristics while being practical to apply to bearings, seals, and other mechanical components. 

A new composite material, NASA PS400, has been invented to provide a means to reduce friction and wear in mechanical components while exhibiting excellent dimensional stability and smooth finished surfaces. This plasma sprayed coating is a variant of the previously patented PS304 coating, and has been formulated to provide higher density, smoother surface finish, and better dimensional stability than PS304. "
  

"Until now transparent electrode materials for OLEDs have mainly consisted of indium tin oxide (ITO), which is expected to become economically challenging for the industry due to the shrinking abundance of indium. Therefore, scientists are intensively looking for alternatives. One promising candidate is graphene, whose application fields are more closely investigated in the project GLADIATOR ("Graphene Layers: Production, Characterization and Integration"). The project GLADIATOR, which is funded by the European Commission, has reached its midterm and has already achieved some successes. The aim of the project is the cost-effective production of high quality graphene at large area, which can then be used for numerous electrode applications. The usability of such applications will be demonstrated at the Fraunhofer FEP by integrating this graphene in OLEDs. "
  

"Electrochromic windows, so-called 'smart windows', share a well-known problem with rechargeable batteries - their limited lifespan. Researchers at Uppsala University have now worked out an entirely new way to rejuvenate smart windows which have started to show signs of age. 

In the study, the researchers show that an electrochromic tungsten oxide layer which has been charged and discharged many times and has started to lose its capacity can be restored to its former high capacity. This is achieved by running a weak electric current through it while it is in light mode. This takes about an hour. In this way, the electric charge which has 'fastened' in the material is removed and the tungsten oxide layer is like new again."
  

"Some animals, such as the chameleon and cephalopod, have the remarkable capability to change their skin color. This unique characteristic has long inspired scientists to develop materials and devices to mimic such a function. However, it requires the complex integration of stretchability, color-changing and tactile sensing. Here researchers show an all-solution processed chameleon-inspired stretchable electronic skin (e-skin), in which the e-skin color can easily be controlled through varying the applied pressure along with the applied pressure duration. As such, the e-skin's color change can also be in turn utilized to distinguish the pressure applied. The integration of the stretchable, highly tunable resistive pressure sensor and the fully stretchable organic electrochromic device enables the demonstration of a stretchable electrochromically active e-skin with tactile-sensing control. This system will have wide range applications such as interactive wearable devices, artificial prosthetics and smart robots."
  

"Sheets of graphene and other materials that are virtually two-dimensional hold great promise for electronic, optical, and other high-tech applications. But the biggest limitation in unleashing this potential has been figuring out how to make these materials in the form of anything larger than tiny flakes. Now researchers at MIT and elsewhere may have found a way to do so.

The group has determined a way to make large sheets of one such material, called molybdenum telluride, or MoTe₂. The new method is based on chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and makes it possible to create sheets of any thickness, and of a size limited only by the dimensions of the CVD chamber used for deposition. The team says their method is also likely to work for many similar 2-D materials, and could make widespread applications feasible."
  

"University of British Columbia physicists have been able to create the first ever superconducting graphene sample by coating it with lithium atoms.

Although superconductivity has already been observed in intercalated bulk graphite-three-dimensional crystals layered with alkali metal atoms, based on the graphite used in pencils-inducing superconductivity in single-layer graphene has until now eluded scientists."
  

"Every time you stroll outside you emit energy into the universe: Heat from the top of your head radiates into space as infrared light.

Now three Stanford engineers have developed a technology that improves on solar panel performance by exploiting this basic phenomenon. Their invention shunts away the heat generated by a solar cell under sunlight and cools it in a way that allows it to convert more photons into electricity. The Stanford solution is based on a thin, patterned silica material laid on top of a traditional solar cell. The material is transparent to the visible sunlight that powers solar cells, but captures and emits thermal radiation, or heat, as infrared rays. "
  

"To advance research in nanoscale science, engineering and technology, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide a total of $81 million over five years to support 16 sites and a coordinating office as part of a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The NNCI sites will provide researchers from academia, government, and companies large and small with access to university user facilities with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools, instrumentation, and expertise within all disciplines of nanoscale science, engineering and technology."
  

"While schools nationwide are welcoming students for the start of the new academic year, the article profiles three of the country's top university optics and photonics programs - oldest to newest - that are shaping the future of the photonics industry.

New York, Arizona and Florida boast three of the best optics programs in the U.S. - the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences, and the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida. All are among the top 14 optics programs in the country, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report in 2014.

These programs raise the bar for optics and photonics research, with Rochester's recent designation as the host site of a new government-funded AIM Photonics institute; Arizona's decades-long reputation as an innovation front-runner with award-winning students, researchers and industry partners; and Florida's revolutionary work to advance technology such as flexible displays and solar cells. "
  

"The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded FlexTech Alliance a Cooperative Agreement to establish and manage a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) for Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE MII). The award is for $75 million in federal funding over a five-year period and is being matched by more than $96 million in cost sharing from non-federal sources, including the City of San Jose, private companies, universities, several U.S. states, and not-for-profit organizations. FlexTech Alliance's winning proposal results in the first of seven MIIs to be headquartered on the West Coast. The DoD's Manufacturing Technology Program Office (ManTech) oversees the MIIs.

FlexTech Alliance, a research consortium and trade association, successfully proposed a San Jose-based hub and node approach to create the FHE MII, which comprises 96 companies, 11 laboratories and non-profits, 42 universities, and 14 state and regional organizations."
  

"Hard, complex materials with many components are used to fabricate some of today's most advanced technology tools. However, little is still known about how the properties of these materials change under specific temperatures, magnetic fields and pressures.

Researchers from LSU, Fudan University, the University of Florida and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures in Nanjing, China, conducted research on materials that separate into different regions through a process called electronic phase separation, which is poorly understood. Their research advances the understanding of how these materials can be manipulated without having to discover new materials, change the chemical concentration or apply external magnetic fields."
  

"President Obama and Energy Secretary Moniz announced at the Clean Energy Summit $24 million in innovation funding for 11 new solar technologies, as part of ARPA-E's newest program, MOSAIC. Short for Micro-scale Optimized Solar-cell Arrays with Integrated Concentration, MOSAIC projects seek to develop a new class of cost-effective, high-performance solar energy modules.

These micro-CPV (concentrated PV) technologies will use thousands of small lenses to concentrate sunlight onto an array of micro-PV cells in order to achieve a higher solar-to-electricity conversion. By exploiting micro-CPV techniques, the teams aim to reduce system costs and dramatically improve flat-plate PV efficiency - and thereby expand the market and geographic areas in which these technologies can operate successfully."
  

"Researchers of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente have discovered an unusual magnetic effect in nanolayers of an oxide of lanthanum and manganese (LaMnO3). Joint work with colleagues from Singapore, the United States and Ireland revealed an abrupt magnetic transition brought about by the slightest change in thickness of the layer.

Such an abrupt transition has never been seen before. The researchers give an explanation for the abrupt switch from antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism, based on an avalanche of electronic charge inside the LaMnO₃ thin film from the top surface of the film to the bottom."