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Applications
Medical

Why Cleanroom Assembly of Plastic Medical and Electronic Devices Requires Ultrasonic Welding Technology

For years, ultrasonic welding has been used in cleanrooms where plastic components are assembled to complete medical and electronic...

Briefs
Materials

Helmet Made of Magnetic Metamaterials Could Improve Brain Scans

It may look like a bizarre bike helmet, or a piece of equipment found in Doc Brown’s lab in Back to the Future, yet this gadget made of plastic and copper wire is a...

Articles
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Keeping the Bugs at Bay

With its instant repellency and its ability to repel rather than kill or deactivate pathogens, RepelWrap presents an effective alternative to current technologies.

Features
Manufacturing & Prototyping

What Medical Device OEMs Should Know About Outsourced MIM

The basis of metal injection molding (MIM) technology involves fine metal powders, which are combined with thermoplastic binders and surfactants, allowing injection in a plastic...

Briefs
Materials

Method Sprays Extremely Thin Wires on 3D Objects

Engineers have invented a way to spray extremely thin wires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially...

Features
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Medical Plastics: Understanding Ultrasonic Welding, Part 1

Plastic consumables for medical applications are often very complex and sophisticated devices. Before these devices can be used by healthcare workers or home care patients, they...

Briefs
Manufacturing & Prototyping

New Printing Process Advances 3D Capabilities

Substances such as plastics, metals, and wax are used in 3D printers to make products and parts for larger items. Products created through the 3D printing of plastics include every-thing from...

Briefs
Materials

Metal-Plastic Hybrid 3D Printing

This method prints 3D structures made of metal and plastic, paving the way for 3D electronics.

Briefs
Materials

Three-Layer Method Makes Plastic More Transparent and Adds Electrical Conductivity

This process could improve large touchscreens, LED light panels, and window-mounted infrared solar cells.

Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Using Open-Cavity Plastic Packages in Avionics Applications

See which methods can help semiconductors meet very tight time-to-market windows.

R&D
Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D Printed Lightweight Knee Brace

Researchers have developed a lighter, yet more robust knee brace for the elderly who suffer from knee problems.

Briefs
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Smart Laser Cutter System Detects Different Materials

SensiCut, a smart material-sensing platform for laser cutters, can differentiate among 30 materials commonly found in makerspaces.

Features
Materials

Transforming Plastic Parts into High-Value Products

Learn some of the essential areas of plasma treatment in the medical device industry.

Briefs
Materials

Color-Changing Dyes Visualize Stress in Plastics

Directly visualizing external stresses of plastics is useful in development of materials with improved mechanical properties.

R&D
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Smart Fabric Stiffens on Demand

A new type of chain mail fabric is flexible like cloth but can stiffen on demand.

Articles
Materials

2021 Create the Future Design Contest Grand Prize Winner: Self Destructing Plastics via Embedded Enzymes

Once triggered, the enzyme-embedded plastics self-destruct, completely degrading and eliminating microplastics in days.

Q&A
Green Design & Manufacturing

Q&A: Plastics Could See Second Life as Biodegradable Surfactants

A chemical process produces valuable biodegradable chemicals from discarded plastics.

Briefs
Materials

Insulation Material Enables More Efficient Electricity Distribution

High-voltage direct current cables can more efficiently transport electricity over long distances.

Briefs
Energy

Microbe Turns Waste into Industrial Chemical

The method could be applied to carbon waste streams.

Articles
Materials

Weaving a New Future for Composites

The advantages of composites are rarely debated. Born mostly from aerospace research, incredibly light but strong creations such as carbon fiber have upended mass-to-strength formulas, changing the...

Briefs
Energy

Technology Converts Waste Plastics to Jet Fuel

The reaction converts 90% of plastic to jet fuel and other valuable hydrocarbon products within an hour at moderate temperatures.

Briefs
Energy

Origami Solves Challenge of Storing and Moving Rocket Fuel

A folded plastic bladder could store and pump the fuel.

Briefs
Green Design & Manufacturing

Method Turns Discarded Plastic into Surfactants

The chemical process turns plastic into biodegradable chemicals for surfactants and detergents.

Briefs
Green Design & Manufacturing

Solvent-Based Recycling Process

By reclaiming polymers in plastics, the process could cut down on millions of tons of plastic waste.

Briefs
Green Design & Manufacturing

Using Wood Byproducts to Produce Sustainable Bioplastics

The high-quality bioplastics can be molded into a film that can be used in plastic bags and packaging.

5 Ws
Materials

5 Ws of Compostable Plastic

A new enzyme-activated compostable material could diminish microplastics pollution.

Briefs
Semiconductors & ICs

Quantum-Dot Infrared Cameras for Electronics and Self-Driving Cars

The inexpensive cameras are easy to produce.

Briefs
Energy

New Process Breaks Down Polystyrene

Due to the chemical stability and durability of industrial polymers, plastic waste does not easily degrade in landfills and is often burned, which produces carbon dioxide and other hazardous gases. In...

Technology Leaders
Materials

Using Dynamic Weld Mode Welder to Tackle Hard-to-Handle Plastic Part Applications

For all of the advancements available in ultrasonic technology, there are certain component, material, or application characteristics that can make assembly quality very difficult to control.

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