Using microwave plasma technology developed at MIT, 6K inc., is turning metals “including scrap, into high-performance materials for various applications,” reports Alex Pasternack for Fast Company. “The process produces no salt or liquid waste, uses just 10% of the water and half of the energy of conventional processes, and reduces costs by half,” writes Pasternack. “Its technique can also precisely control the composition and structure of materials at the atomic level.”
Jake Guglin MBA ’19, Jasper Lienhard PhD ’22, Prof. Chris Schuh and University of California Irvine Prof. Tim Rupert have founded Foundation Alloy, a vertically integrated metal part production platform specializing in manufacturing high performing metal parts, reports Ariyana Griffin for Forbes. “By creating stronger metals, we can make lighter parts for planes, cars [which] will make those existing products greener and more efficient,” says Guglin.
Nth Cycle, a company co-founded by Prof. Desiree Plata, has developed an extraction device that uses electric signals to identify valuable metals or black mass leftover from discarded electric batteries. “This modular system is easy to move and adapt and is far more efficient and environmentally friendly than the traditional methods of smelting or using a chemical wash to sort out the metals from the gunk,” writes Jon Chesto and Larry Edelman for The Boston Globe.
Researchers from MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab and other organizations have created a new method to produce liquid metal, reports Mashable. The researchers hope “the new process will be used to change metal design and production processes and get applied in architecture components or product design.”
Researchers at MIT have determined why shaving causes everyday razors made of Martensitic stainless steel to wear down so quickly. “Now that researchers know why razors fail so quickly, they can start to develop steel without the same weaknesses,” notes Theresa Machemer for Smithsonian Magazine.
Using a scanning electron microscope, MIT researchers observed how hair produces tiny chips in steel razor blades, reports Nell Greenfieldboyce for NPR. "For me, personally, it was both a scientific curiosity, of 'What's going on?' and also aiming to solve an important engineering problem," says Prof. C. Cem Tasan.
By observing and recording the cutting process, MIT researchers have found that human hairs chip razor blades during the shaving process, reports Leah Crane for New Scientist. “We expected that the failure of these materials should just be wear,” says Prof. C. Cem Tasan. “But this is not the case: the process of chipping is much faster.”
Wired reporter Eric Niiler writes that a new study by MIT researchers sheds light on why razor blades get dull so quickly. “We want to design new materials that are better and go longer,” says Prof. C. Cem Tasan. “This problem of the blade is an excellent example. We are so used to it, you don’t think about it. You use the razor for a few weeks and then move on.”
Prof. C. Cem Tasan speaks with BBC News reporter Chris Baraniuk about the potential for self-healing metals. Baraniuk explains that Tasan and his team are “investigating metals containing tiny structures that resist crack growth in each stress cycle.”