"The Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) has announced that it is part of a UK based collaboration to develop the next generation of ultra-barrier materials using graphene for the production of flexible transparent plastic electronic based displays such as those required for the next generation of smartphones, tablets and wearable electronics.

The project combines the skills from each of the partners (University of Cambridge, FlexEnable Ltd, the National Physical Laboratory and the Centre for Process Innovation) and expects to deliver a feasible material and process system. It builds upon significant existing investments by InnovateUK and the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK) in this area. The resulting ultra-barrier material can be potentially used in a wide range of novel applications by the lead business partner, FlexEnable. "
  

"Materials that actively repel water and ice very strongly are sought after by the aviation industry and for many other technical applications."
  

"The huge economic impact of the corrosion of metallic structures is a very important issue for all modern societies. Estimates for the cost of corrosion degradation run to about €200 billion (US$213 billion) a year in Europe and over US$270 billion a year in the U.S. Worldwide, it is estimated that these costs approach US$1 trillion annually. The direct costs are related to the costs of design, manufacturing, and construction in order to provide corrosion protection, and the indirect costs are concerned with corrosion-related inspection, maintenance and repairs.

Microbially induced corrosion (MIC) is one of the lesser understood forms of corrosion where micro-organisms manifest metallic surfaces and induce substantial damage that often goes unnoticed until there is a loss in the component functionality. New research features graphene as a promising novel surface coating that can be used to minimize metallic corrosion under harsh microbial conditions."
  

"One million dental implants are inserted every year in Germany, and often they need to be replaced due to issues such as tissue infections caused by bacteria. In the future, these infections will be prevented thanks to a new plasma implant coating that kills pathogens using silver ions.

To lower the risk of infection and improve the long-term effectiveness of the implant, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen have developed a new type of implant coating in cooperation with industry partners. The DentaPlas coating helps prevent the growth of bacteria, thus allowing the implant to properly take hold and thereby form a faster and more permanent bond with the jawbone. The trick to this lies in combining surface materials that feature physical as well as chemical properties. Researchers have given the DentaPlas coating a rough texture, which promotes cellular growth, in addition to combining it with a hydrophilic plasma polymer coating, which attracts moisture."
  

"A recent study performed by a group of scientists from the Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center (CINN), Asturias,Spain, has demonstrated the ability of three glass coatings, developed by the CINN, to control peri-implant infection and subsequent disease. The use of these coatings on medical implants decreases bacterial colonization and disease progression significantly, especially in the case of the bioactive glasses.

Bacterial colonization of implantable medical devices - such as joint replacements (hip, knee, etc.), metal heart valves, catheters, etc. - is a medical problem of great importance because of its prevalence and its cost "apart from the economic cost for the health system to remove these devices - the cost of changing only knee and hip prostheses in the USA grew from 320 million dollars in 2001 to 672 million dollars in 2010."
  

"Self-propelling nanoparticles can repair microscopic cracks in the wiring of electronic circuit boards. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, San Diego coated gold nanospheres with a platinum film on one hemisphere and with a single layer of hydrophobic octadecanethiol molecules on the other.

The particles in solution autonomously move around a crack on a circuit board. The hydrophobic coating on half of their surface causes them to stick in the gap, allowing current to flow again. The researchers demonstrated that the particles could repair a circuit within five minutes."
  

"The age of wearable electronics is upon us as witnessed by the fast growing array of smart watches, fitness bands and other advanced, next-generation health monitoring devices. In order for these wearable sensor devices to become fully integrated into sophisticated monitoring systems, they require wireless interfaces to external communication devices such as smartphones. The main component of the communication circuit, the antenna for far-field communication, is still a challenge.

To complement existing designs for stretchable antenna systems - which usually radiate at different resonant frequencies and are expensive due to the complex processing involved or the exotic materials used - an international team from KAUST and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne demonstrates a stretchable and wearable antenna that can provide a single frequency operation while flexing or stretching."
  

"While touchscreens are practical, touchless displays would be even more so. Touchscreens suffer from mechanical wear over time and are a transmission path for bacteria and viruses. To avoid these problems, scientists at Stuttgart's Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and LMU Munich have now developed nanostructures that change their electrical and even their optical properties as soon as a finger comes anywhere near them.

Touchless color change: A nanostructure containing alternating layers of phosphatoantimonate nanosheets and oxide nanoparticles creates color in the same way as a butterfly wing or mother-of-pearl. The color changes when a finger reaches within a few millimeters of it. This is because the material then takes up the moisture the finger emits."
  

"To date, industries with the greatest R&D budgets have been the biggest proponents of 3D printers. The aviation and aerospace industry in particular has discovered the potential to address their spare-part needs with this technology, which is ideal for producing cost-effective, out-of-production aircraft spare parts on demand. NASA even released news of the first 3D-printed object in space in November 2014, which it says will pave the way to future long-term space expeditions.

Another forward-looking industry is the medical sector, in which patient-specific implants and surgical guides are increasing patient comfort and reducing surgical and recovery times.

Direct metal printing is one of the latest advances in 3D printing. The ability to manufacture highly complex, precision components in fully dense metals is expanding the limits of what is possible in industries such as aerospace, automotive and health care, where performance and functionality are paramount."
  

"Using carbon atoms deposited on graphene with a focused electron beam process, researchers at Georgia Tech have demonstrated a technique for creating dynamic patterns on graphene surfaces. The patterns could be used to make reconfigurable electronic circuits, which evolve over a period of hours before ultimately disappearing into a new electronic state of the graphene. Graphene is also made up of carbon atoms, but in a highly-ordered form.

Beyond allowing fabrication of disappearing circuits, the technology could be used as a form of timed release in which the dissipation of the carbon patterns could control other processes, such as the release of biomolecules. We will now be able to draw electronic circuits that evolve over time. Today the device would do one thing; tomorrow it would do something entirely different."