Industry Updates
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Industry Updates
Published online: 28 April 2007 Ó ASM International 2007
Liquid-Crystal Rubber Suit Prevents Overheating Military personnel, chemical workers, and others could benefit from a new synthetic rubber material tailored with liquid crystals. The material might be used to make body suits to protect chemical-industry employees from skin exposure to toxic vapors and aerosols, as well as providing protection for military personnel and civilians in the event of a chemical weapons attack. The ideal protective garment should be lightweight and selectively block toxic vapors, but be ‘‘breathable,’’ allowing water vapor to pass outward, thereby maintaining personal comfort and safety. As described in a recent issue of Advanced Materials, Douglas Gin of the University of Colorado, Brian Elliott at TDA Research Inc. (Wheat Ridge, Colo.), and colleagues have now developed just such a material based on modified butyl rubber. The material is breathable but also rejects chemical agents. For more information: Douglas Gin, Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, 424 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0424; e-mail: Douglas. [email protected]; web: www.colorado.edu. Nanotechnology Exhibit Opened at Walt Disney Epcot The world of nanotechnology is now larger than life at the Cornell-developed, arcade-like exhibit ‘‘Too Small to See,’’ in the Innoventions West building in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Visitors won’t simply see nanotechnology, they will be part of it: They can walk through a silicon crystal, build a molecule, and climb a carbon nanotube or two. The exhibit, which took more than two years to create, is a collaboration between Cornell University, the
Sciencenter in Ithaca, and Painted Universe in Lansing, N.Y., and was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). ‘‘It’s important for the public to gain a better understanding of nanotechnology because of its potential impact on our lives,’’ says David Ucko, head of informal science education at NSF. The exhibit will remain there until May 12, 2007. From mid-May through fall 2007, the 5000 sq. ft exhibition will be at Ithaca’s Sciencenter before traveling throughout the United States. For more information: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850-2488; e-mail: [email protected]; web: www. news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov06/nano.Epcot.sl.html or www. toosmalltosee.org.
Vapor Deposition Builds Stronger Glass Described in the December 8, 2006, issue of Science, Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new glass-making technique resulting in a novel glass that is stronger and more stable than glass made in traditional ways. Lead author Mark Ediger, a UWMadison chemistry professor, and his team built glass layer by layer using vapor deposition. Glass was heated to the point of evaporation and allowed to condense on a cold surface, where the vapor forms an ultrathin liquid film. By adding layers to the surface one at a time, each sheet of particles can move into a more organized arrangement bef
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