Transmaterial

Quantum Dots

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:59 +0000

With the demise of the incandescent bulb, scientists continue to seek alternative, efficient sources of illumination. Pure white light is especially important, and not easy to produce efficiently.

Discovered in a lab at Vanderbilt University, white light quantum dots are micro-scaled fluorescent beads of cadmium selenide that convert LED-emitted blue light into a warm white similar to the color temperature of incandescent bulbs. This white color is distinct from that produced by white light LEDs, which simulate white light from a combination of monochromatic colors.

Although there were initial concerns over the low efficiency of quantum dots, researchers have since made the technology much more efficient—up to a 45 percent efficiency. “Forty-five percent is as high as the efficiency of some commercial phosphors which suggests that white-light quantum dots can now be used in some special lighting applications,” says lead Vanderbilt chemist Sandra Rosenthal. “The fact that we have successfully boosted their efficiency by more than 10 times also means that it should be possible to improve their efficiency even further.”

Contact: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.

Woven Stone

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:00:29 +0000

Woven Stone is part of the ASI Specialty Products Magna Mosaic Collection. Earth tones combined with dimensional, geometric features create a powerful and sculptured look, lending an artistic element to any space. The continuous, controlled texture of Woven Stone creates a sense of movement, suitable for the most modern of interiors, including retail, hospitality, healthcare and corporate projects.

Contact: Architectural Systems, Inc., New York, NY, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

CarbonCure

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:00:11 +0000

CarbonCure is a precast concrete technology developed to sequester carbon dioxide. The CarbonCure Block System has been installed across North America at concrete manufacturing facilities to store CO2 within concrete masonry units during the production process, permanently locking away the greenhouse gas in the form of synthetic limestone. CO2 is injected into concrete through a modified core bar during the molding stage. The result is a more environmentally-responsible concrete product with equivalent performance and cost to traditional concrete.

In addition to sequestered CO2, CarbonCure blocks have a lower carbon footprint than traditional masonry units due to reductions in their steam curing temperature and cement content. As a result, the total CO2 emissions reduction is approximately 250 grams per block.

Contact: CarbonCure Technologies, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Terrazzo Lumina

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:00:09 +0000

Terrazzo Lumina Slabs and Tiles are refined concrete surfaces designed to propate and emit light. Illumination travels within the concrete via embedded light-guides and is emitted in pixelated form. The manufacturing process is quite flexible and various geometries and configurations of light terminals are possible. The placement of the light source relative to the emitting surface is also flexible (and serviceable), making the product versatile for use in bar tops, flooring, wall features, and infrastructural projects.

Contact: SensiTile Systems, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Coco Tiles

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:00:34 +0000

Made from reclaimed coconut shells, low-VOC resins and sustainably-harvested wood backer material, Kirei Coco Tiles may be used as decorative tiles or panels both horizontally and vertically. Featuring multiple pattern and color combinations and available in light, dark and mixed textures, the coconut shell tiles create a variety of surfaces and enhance the sustainable material palette in residential, commercial, and hospitality applications.

Contact: Kirei, Solana Beach, CA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Mercury Glass

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:00:49 +0000

Silvered glass “Mercury Glass” was invented in the nineteenth century as a decorative substitute for more expensive silver tableware. Where traditional Mercury Glass has a thin glass wall, however, Suzan Etkin Enterprises creates hand blown silvered glass with thick, undulating walls and deposits a film of pure silver into the vessel interior. The thick, undulating wall gives the glass the appearance of liquid metal, transforming a 19th century technology into a 21st century material with unmatched light reflection and refraction properties.

Suzan Etkin engineers and tests each project for safety. Overhead glass vessels can be filled with anti-shatter foam or resin, and Mercury glass elements can assume structural properties when reinforced with steel embedded in structural foam or resin.

Contact: Suzan Etkin Enterprises, New York, NY, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Power Felt

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:00:46 +0000

Scientists at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University have developed a thermoelectric fabric that converts body heat into electricity. The material is made of layers of interlocking carbon nanotubes and plastic fibers, and feels similar to felt. The thermoelectric technology develops electric current from temperature differences, such as the difference between anatomical temperature and room temperature.

According to Wake Forest researcher Corey Hewitt, “We waste a lot of energy in the form of heat. For example, recapturing a car’s energy waste could help improve fuel mileage and power the radio, air conditioning or navigation system. Generally thermoelectrics are an underdeveloped technology for harvesting energy, yet there is so much opportunity.”

The first prototypes of Power Felt yielded 140 nanowatts of power from 72 layers of nanofabric, and the researchers are currently attempting to increase the output of the technology.

“I imagine being able to make a jacket with a completely thermoelectric inside liner that gathers warmth from body heat, while the exterior remains cold from the outside temperature,” says Hewitt. “If the Power Felt is efficient enough, you could potentially power an iPod, which would be great for distance runners. It’s definitely within reach.”

Contact: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.

ExoSkeleton

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:00:10 +0000

ExoSkeleton is a quilted concrete panel made from organic duck cloth canvas and cast concrete. Two layers of the canvas are quilted using reinforced stitching in a structurally stable configuration. The reinforced stitching is engineered to withstand the fluid lateral forces specific to the amount of uncured concrete relative to the diameter of the pocket created by the sewn fabric. The formwork is then hung in a vertical configuration supported at the top, similar to the arrangement of a shower curtain. At the base of the fabric, friction pilings or a trough are set plumb to the supports at the top of the fabric and serve as the foundation of the cured form.

Developed by Thompson Young Design, ExoSkeleton’s canvas fabric is configured to allow pumped concrete to self-support in compression and framed laterally by the tensile strength of the fabric within the diamond shaped quilted pockets, which are connected to a foundation. The canvas can be removed once the concrete is cured, or it can be incorporated into the finish.

Concrete supports more than its own weight in compression, and the material nature of fabric offers a high strength in tension. As long as the balance of concrete in compression relative the tensile strength of the fabric is stable, concrete will stack. When coupled, the compressive stability of concrete and the tensile strength of fabric combine to frame the curing process of concrete to achieve infinite concrete configurations.

Contact: Thompson Young Design, Charleston, SC, USA.

Flight Assembled Architecture

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:00:33 +0000

Flight Assembled Architecture is a demonstration project that exhibits research conducted on flying machine enabled construction by ETH Zürich professor Raffaello D’Andrea and architects Gramazio & Kohler. The first installation to be built by flying machines, Flight Assembled Architecture utilizes software-controlled flying robots to place foam bricks individually in order to construct a large open-weave structure. Imagined as a scale representation of a 600 m tall towering city, the installation “addresses radical new ways of thinking and materializing architecture as a physical process of dynamic formation,” says D’Andrea.

Contact: ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Textures

Blaine Brownell — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:00:47 +0000

R-Cast Textures acrylic material weighs half as much as glass but is 17 times stronger. It is also four times stronger than concrete. Textures are acrylic panels that feature customized patterns sculpted deep into the surface. Without any special illumination, the panels reflect available ambient lighting to produce deep and dramatic shadows. Textures panels are available in opaque, clear, and translucent colors, and may be but to custom shapes and sizes.

Contact: Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc., Grand Junction, CO, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.