Innovation Pipeline

Named after the great American architect Buckminster Fuller, buckyballs are getting a lot of attention at Purdue University. Part of Purdue’s research is focused on the environmental impact of these ultrasmall particles.
Concerns have been expressed that release of any nanoparticles into the environment could harm the microorganisms plants, people and other animals depend on. Purdue [...]

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Water scarcity is a big problem for much of the western United States. But recently other parts of the U.S. unaccustomed to the pinch at the pipe have been feeling the pain. Areas like Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta, which have awakened to huge challenges in the drinking-water department.
Is the growing problem of scarcity spurring [...]

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For more than 200 years, scientists have observed the phenomenon of specific materials’ dual personality to convert heat into electricity and electricity into heat. Known as the thermoelectric effect, the challenge for scientists and researchers has been how to harness this energy conversion.
A team of researchers from MIT and Boston College have developed nanotech [...]

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The wondrous world of material research is on the move again. This time, Georgia Tech researchers have developed a new, low cost material for capturing carbon dioxide from the smokestacks of coal-fired plants and other generators of greenhouse gas.
The good news is the tubular reactor filled with the material called HAS absorbent is not [...]

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