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 While others have used "Pulsed laser ablation in liquid" to produce nanoparticles for ten years, researchers at Rensselaer found for the first time that this approach could lead to more interesting structures.  It was surprising to find hollow spheres and nanowires in the products fabricated by pulsed laser ablation of an aluminum target immersed in liquid.

Novel nanoscale alumina particle filled epoxy nanocomposites were designed and developed for potential use in electrical machine insulation. One of the potential advantages of nanoparticle filled thermosets is the unique combination of mechanical properties that can be obtained.

High aspect ratio BaTiO3 fibers were synthesized to improve the dielectric constant of composites compared to spherical fillers while maintaining a low dielectic loss. The fibers are more efficient than spherical fillers and could be used as field grading materials in high voltage cable transmission lines.  

Rocket engines have been around for centuries and have carried humans to moon. The same propulsion principle is in fact applicable at the nanoscale. Nanostructures can propel themselves by burning the surround fuels, as shown by molecular simulations. 

By designing the interaction between metal substrates and the first layer of molecules, acenes can be packed in a face-to-face fashion instead of the conventional herringbone (face-to-edge) arrangement. Absorption spectra of cofacially packed acenes have a better overlap with the solar spectrum, which allows harvesting more of the solar energy from red photons.

Due to unique electronic properties and the unusual quality of self-healing of radiation damage (i.e., radiation hardness), boron carbide based semiconductors have been fabricated to form photo/beta-voltaic diodes which can be used for power harvesting and sensing applications.

Cracking behavior of various glasses under a 1 kilogram force load.   a.) normal glass,  b.) intermediate glass, c.) anomalous glass  Vickers indentations under 1 kg load are shown. While many glasses exhibit extensive cracking, (a) and (c), new glass did not, (b). When a glass exhibits permanent deformation, it assumes a higher temperature structure.