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Material Measurement Laboratory

Applied Chemicals and Materials Division

News and Updates

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NIST Corrosion Lab Tests Suggest Need for Underground Gas Tank Retrofits

July 29, 2014

A hidden hazard may lurk beneath many of the roughly 156,000 gas stations across the United States. The hazard is corrosion in parts of underground gas storage

Shown here are the tools for testing arson samples using NIST's new PLOT capillary method.

NIST Analytic Technique Offers Arson Investigators Faster, More Accurate Results

June 17, 2014

A research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has demonstrated a new method for detecting ignitable liquids that could change

Sample Deposit on Piezoelectric Quartz Crystals

NIST Microanalysis Technique Makes the Most of Small Nanoparticle Samples

February 24, 2014

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have demonstrated that they can make

NIST Analysis Helps the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Pinpoint Root Cause of Pressure Vessel Failure

January 7, 2014

In 2009, a violent rupture of a 50-foot pressure vessel used to produce synthetic crystals at the NDK Crystal facility in Belvidere, Illinois fatally injured a

Allan Harvey Elected ASME Fellow

October 22, 2013

Allan Harvey, a chemical engineer in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Material Measurement Laboratory, has been elected as a fellow of

Frenkel and Chirico in front of a stack of books

Beyond Peer Review: NIST and Five Journals Find a Way to Manage Errors in Research Data

September 9, 2013

Traditional peer review is not enough to ensure data quality amid the recent boom in scientific research findings, according to results of a 10-year

After four days, quantum dots still shine (green) in cells embedded in a hydrogel scaffold.

Squishy Hydrogels May Be the Ticket for Studying Biological Effects of Nanoparticles

May 14, 2013

A class of water-loving, jelly-like materials with uses ranges ranging from the mundane, such as superabsorbent diaper liners, to the sophisticated, such as

CFEB Names Lauren Greenlee "Rookie of the Year"

May 9, 2013

The Colorado Federal Executive Board (CFEB) promotes strategic partnering, communication, and collaboration among the Federal agencies located in Colorado. Each

Slip Sliding Our Way: At the Nanoscale, Graphite Can Turn Friction Upside Down

October 16, 2012

If you ease up on a pencil, does it slide more easily? Sure. But maybe not if the tip is sharpened down to nanoscale dimensions. A team of researchers at the

New NIST Screening Method Identifies 1,200 Candidate Refrigerants to Combat Global Warming

September 18, 2012

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new computational method for identifying candidate refrigerant fluids

Drawing of NIST's prototype bioreactor for tissue engineering.

Ultrasound Idea: Prototype NIST/CU Bioreactor Evaluates Engineered Tissue While Creating It

May 2, 2012

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a prototype bioreactor—a device for culturing cells to create engineered

$Transmission electron diffraction pattern from from a segment of an indium gallium nitride (InGaN) nanowire about 50 nanometers in diameter taken with an SEM using the new NIST technique$

Hacking the SEM: Crystal Phase Detection for Nanoscale Samples

January 24, 2012

Custom modifications of equipment are an honored tradition of the research lab. In a recent paper, two materials scientists at the National Institute of

NIST software simulates the tip of an atomic force microscope moving left across a stack of four sheets of graphene.

Slippery When Stacked: NIST Theorists Quantify the Friction of Graphene

January 10, 2012

Similar to the way pavement, softened by a hot sun, will slow down a car, graphene—a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon with wondrous properties—slows down an

Micrograph of recession and clumping in gold electrodes

NIST Uncovers Reliability Issues for Carbon Nanotubes in Future Electronics

August 16, 2011

Carbon nanotubes offer big promise in a small package. For instance, these tiny cylinders of carbon molecules theoretically can carry 1,000 times more electric

NIST Finds That Ethanol-Loving Bacteria Accelerate Cracking of Pipeline Steels

August 2, 2011

U.S. production of ethanol for fuel has been rising quickly, topping 13 billion gallons in 2010. With the usual rail, truck and barge transport methods under

Energy & Fuels (journal) highlights NIST paper

April 27, 2011

Energy & Fuels is the premier journal for research in all areas of the chemistry of nonnuclear energy sources, including the properties and structure or

Getting the Point: Real-Time Monitoring of Atomic-Microscope Probes Adjusts for Wear

March 30, 2011

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a way to measure the wear and degradation of the microscopic probes used

Image of the preparation of quartz crystal microbalance disks

Quartz Crystal Microbalances Enable New Microscale Analytic Technique

November 24, 2010

A new chemical analysis technique developed by a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses the shifting ultrasonic pitch

Body of Evidence: New Fast, Reliable Method to Detect Gravesoil

July 21, 2010

Nothing against bloodhounds, but finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by

Knowing When Poultry Goes Foul

April 13, 2010

Mom's trusty nose may be good, but researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have gone her one better by designing an instrument

Future of Hydrogen Fuel Flows Through New NIST Test Facility

February 16, 2010

If hydrogen is ever to play a significant role as a clean, everyday energy source, it will need a safe and reliable distribution system. To pave the way for a

Colorized simulation of what happens to 1100 carbon atoms in a 'flat' sheet of graphene about 20 microseconds after the central atom is moved slightly upwards.

Capturing Those In-Between Moments: NIST Solves Timing Problem in Molecular Modeling

November 3, 2009

A theoretical physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a method for calculating the motions and forces of thousands

New NIST Database on Gas Hydrates to Aid Energy and Climate Research

October 6, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a free, online collection of data on the properties of gas hydrates, naturally occurring

NIST research chemist Tom Bruno and postdoctoral researcher Tara Lovestead assemble an apparatus for detecting and measuring explosives and toxins.

Prototype NIST Method Detects and Measures Elusive Hazards

September 8, 2009

A chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has demonstrated a relatively simple, inexpensive method for detecting and measuring

Product Incorporating NIST Expert System Wins R&D 100 Award

July 28, 2009

Commercial process-design software that incorporates NIST's thermophysical and thermochemical property data sets will receive a 2009 R&D 100 award, R&D Magazine

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