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Hydrogels with self-irrigation and slow‑fertilizer-release properties for sustainable agriculture
Background
Water scarcity and inefficient fertilizer use have long hindered sustainable agriculture, as traditional irrigation and nutrient delivery methods often fail to optimize resource utilization and prevent environmental harm.
Existing approaches typically provide static solutions that do not account for fluctuation in environmental conditions,...
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Thermoresponsive hydrogel technology for efficient atmospheric water harvesting
Background
Rapidly growing global water scarcity and the need for decentralized, energy-efficient water collection have driven the search for atmospheric water harvesting systems that can overcome limitations in conventional approaches.
Traditional fog capture or dew condensation methods often depend on high humidity levels, while existing sorbent-based...
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Infinite-dimensional integrated digital image correlation (IDIC)
Background
Digital image correlation (DIC) methods are common in laboratory experiments. Often termed two-dimensional digital image correlation (2D-DIC), the method uses a camera to acquire images of a planar object that is deforming nominally within the specimen surface plane that is being imaged. DIC algorithms typically perform the image registration...
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Self-limiting optoelectronic thinning for transition metal dichalcogenides monolayers fabrication
Background
Dr. Yuebing Zheng and his team have developed a self-limiting optoelectronic thinning (SOET) technique to prepare atomic monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) in a commercially scalable manner. Dr. Zheng is the Temple Foundation Endowed Teaching Fellowship in Engineering #2 and an associate professor at UT Austin, with primary...
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Atmospheric water irrigation enabled by super moisture absorbent gels
Overview
The global population is projected to reach 9.6 billion people by 2025, requiring food production to increase by 70% to meet the demand of the huge population. Water is most limiting natural resource for agricultural production due to the freshwater shortage and enormous need for irrigation. Dry cropland accounts for 84% of the cultivated...
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Oxygen-tolerant photopolymer resins
BackgroundLight-driven polymerization methods for 3D printing are particularly attractive due to unparalleled speed and resolution, yet the reliance on high energy UV/violet light in contemporary processes limits the number of compatible materials due to pervasive absorption, scattering, and degradation at these short wavelengths. Such issues can be...
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Lithium selective organogels
Background
Lithium (Li) is a highly reactive alkali metal with excellent heat and electrical conductivity properties, making it useful for a variety of industrial applications. Because of Li’s high reactivity, pure elemental Li is not found in nature but is present as a constituent of salts or other compounds found in brines, mineral ores, clays,...
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Monolithic, unetched BTO strip waveguides
Background
Electro-optic technology relies on the operation of systems/devices through the propagation and interaction of light with various tailored/optically active materials. Typical electro-optical devices are designed to modulate the properties of a light wave (e.g., phase, polarization, amplitude, frequency, direction of propagation) and include...
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Mercury isotope composition for improved fluorescent lighting efficiency
BackgroundEvery fluorescent light bulb on earth uses a small amount (several milligrams) of mercury. This element has seven naturally occurring isotopes. The opacity of the mercury vapor causes the resonance UV photons emitted by the atoms in a glow discharge plasma to be reabsorbed by adjacent atoms, leading to a much longer effective lifetime or lower...
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Method for fabricating a pressure sensor
Technology description Every year, clinicians in the United States alone place more than 1.5 million pulmonary artery catheters for the purpose of hemodynamic monitoring. Balloon occlusion of the aorta has emerged as a tool for controlling life-threatening hemorrhage from the pelvis and lower extremities. Currently, the pressure of the inflated balloon...
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