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Materials World October 2009

The October issue of Materials World looks at natural materials.

Related features examine how natural rubber can meet the demands of the modern tyre and the next generation of natural composite materials.

News looks at the state of the bioplastics packaging sector and creating different vehicle components on one roll-forming line. 

News

Wheeling out microcrystalline cellulose

Student Wen Bai developed rubber composites with microcrystalline cellulose
Partially replacing silica with renewable microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) could make tyre production and use more energy efficient, claim researchers at Oregon State University, USA.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Organic crystals for hydrogen storage

Scientists in the UK say they have fashioned a crystal that could store 2.5% hydrogen by mass.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Flexible forming for cheaper car parts

A system for producing a variety of vehicle components on one processing line has been developed by a European research consortium.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

On a roll with inorganic LEDs

An international team of researchers claims to have overcome the limitations of creating printed interconnected arrays of ultrathin and ultrasmall inorganic light-emitting diodes (ILEDs) for deformable and semitransparent lighting displays.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Easy access to manufacturing training

Five of the UK’s sector skills councils (SSCs) have launched the Manufacturing Skills Alliance (MSA) to improve access to training and development for employers in the UK and help them deal with different Governmental agencies.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Microwaving minerals

Microwaves can exfoliate vermiculite using less energy and producing far less dust than gas or oil-fired furnaces, claim engineers from the University of Nottingham, UK.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Films from wood

A biodegradable gas barrier film or coating is being developed from an offshoot of the pulp and paper industry.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Bigging up bioplastics packaging?

Putting ‘brand identity’, ‘joined-up thinking’ and ‘communication’ into action could set the tone for a more cohesive and better understood bioplastics packaging industry.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

A researcher perspective from Germany

Dr Andrés Lasagni of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology, in Dresden, offers Meagan Ellis a foreigner’s guide on living and working in the scientifically strong culture of Germany.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Features

Opening up oilsands - extraction processes for the Canadian oilsands

Nexen claims to be pioneering the next generation of oilsands development in Canada. This article describes their extraction process.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Platinum Jubilee – processing developments

Company and processing developments in the Bushveld, South Africa, are covered.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Changing tyres – natural rubber

Dr Stuart Cook, Director of Research, at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Brickendonbury, UK, discusses how natural rubber can meet the demands of the modern tyre.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

A lesson from nature - biomimetics

This article describes how mimicing the hydrophobicity found in nature may lead to practical applications.
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

A growing market - natural fibres for technical textiles

Technical textiles using natural fibres are becoming a more realistic option. John Williams, Principal Lecturer of the TEAM Research Group at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, explains
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

A year for fibres

2009 is the year of natural fibres. Brett Suddell, Senior Materials Scientist from environmental consultancy ADAS, based in Hereford, UK, reflects
Materials World Magazine, 01 Oct 2009

Book reviews