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Material Measurement Laboratory

Materials Science and Engineering Division

News and Updates

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Scaffold Gradients: Finding the Right Environment for Developing Cells

May 25, 2010

People often have strong opinions on the "right" firmness of mattresses for themselves, and, as it turns out, some cell types have similar preferences for their

New Study Helps Explain the Surprising Behavior of Tiny 'Artificial Muscles'

April 27, 2010

Using neutron beams and atomic-force microscopes, a team of university researchers working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may

This atomic-force microscopy image shows wrinkling in a single-wall carbon nanotube membrane; the inset shows an optical reflection micrograph of the membrane without any strain.

NIST Scientists Address 'Wrinkles' in Transparent Film Development

March 30, 2010

A closer look at a promising nanotube coating that might one day improve solar cells has turned up a few unexpected wrinkles, according to new research

A quantum-mechanics-based simulation demonstrates how a new NIST instrument can delicately pull a chain of atoms apart.

NIST Researchers Holding Steady in an Atomic-Scale Tug-of-War

March 30, 2010

How hard do you have to pull on a single atom of--let's say--gold to detach it from the end of a chain of like atoms?* It's a measure of the astonishing

NIST Scientists Quantify Nanoparticle-Protein Interactions

January 12, 2010

A research team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has quantified the interaction of gold nanoparticles with important proteins found

Therapeutic Nanoparticles Give New Meaning to Sugar-Coating Medicine

September 22, 2009

A research team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) studying sugar-coated nanoparticles for use as a possible cancer therapy has

cross-section of an organic photovoltaic cell

NIST Scientists Study How to Stack the Deck for Organic Solar Power

July 28, 2009

A new class of economically viable solar power cells—cheap, flexible and easy to make—has come a step closer to reality as a result of recent work at the

Unexpectedly Long-Range Effects in Advanced Magnetic Devices

June 30, 2009

A tiny grid pattern has led materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Institute of Solid State Physics in Russia

Between a polycrystalline material's grains (saffron layers) exist disorderly areas called grain boundaries

NIST Finds 'A Touch of Glass' in Metal, Settles Century-Old Question

June 16, 2009

Better predictions of how many valuable materials behave under stress could be on the way from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where

NIST Study Finds a Decade of High-Payoff, High-Throughput Research

May 20, 2009

In its first decade of work, a research effort at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop novel and improved "combinatorial"

New Reference Material Supports Improved Quality Control for Polymers Industry

March 10, 2009

In a tour de force of measurement science, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and issued for sale a new

Illustration of preservatives surrounding and protecting complex molecules

Probing and Controlling 'Molecular Rattling' May Mean Better Preservatives

February 24, 2009

For centuries, people have preserved fruit by mixing it with sugar, making thick jams that last for months without spoiling. Now scientists at the National

Taking the Stress Out of Magnetic Field Detection

January 27, 2009

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered that a carefully built magnetic sandwich that interleaves layers of a

Single wall carbon nanotubes enclosed in bile acid shells self assembled into a sheaf of long ordered fibrils each composed of several nanotube rods.

'Two-Faced' Bioacids Put a New Face on Carbon Nanotube Self-Assembly

January 13, 2009

Nanotubes, the tiny honeycomb cylinders of carbon atoms only a few nanometers wide, are perhaps the signature material of modern engineering research, but

Insights into Polymer Film Instability Could Aid High Tech Industries

January 13, 2009

While exploring the properties of polymer formation, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has made a fundamental

SEM image demonstrates a pseudo 2D network of carbon nanotubes deposited like paper fibers in a thin, sparse sheet.

Paperwork: Buckypapers Clarify Electrical, Optical Behavior of Nanotubes

October 14, 2008

Using highly uniform samples of carbon nanotubes—sorted by centrifuge for length—materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Illustration of restacking organic semiconductors

Bottoms Up: Better Organic Semiconductors for Printable Electronics

September 3, 2008

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Seoul National University (SNU) have learned how to tweak a new class of polymer

ribbon of protein stands in the foreground against a computer-simulation of a stress field in a glassy material

Candy-Coating Keeps Proteins Sweet

August 19, 2008

Sugar-frosting isn't just for livening up boring bran flakes; it can also preserve important therapeutic proteins. Researchers at the National Institute of

3d Nanostructures with Magnetic Materials

June 24, 2008

Materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a process to build complex, three-dimensional nanoscale

Microwave Synthesis Connects With the (Quantum) Dots

June 10, 2008

Materials researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a simplified, low-cost process for producing high-quality

Spin Control: New Technique Sorts Nanotubes by Length

May 13, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have reported a new technique to sort batches of carbon nanotubes by length using high

Electron micrograph shows a cross-section of a typical SOG microcircuit feature.

Making a Good Impression: Nanoimprint Lithography Tests at NIST

April 29, 2008

In what should be good news for integrated circuit manufacturers, recent studies by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have helped

New 3-D Test Method for Biomaterials 'Flat Out' Faster

April 29, 2008

A novel, three-dimensional (3-D) screening method for analyzing interactions between cells and new biomaterials could cut initial search times by more than half

Metal Detectives: New Book Details Titanic Investigation

April 15, 2008

In February 1998, Timothy Foecke, a metallurgist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), published a rather low-key "interagency report"

Joint Research: Probing the Mysteries of a Surprisingly Tough Hydrogel

March 18, 2008

Some 46 million people suffer from arthritis in the United States alone. The worst cases require painful surgeries to drill holes in and reinforce joints. Now

Advanced communications
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Buildings and Construction
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Electronics
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Environment
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Infrastructure
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Materials
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Mathematics and statistics
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Metrology
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Nanotechnology
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