Engineering + Science

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have discovered a way to use ultraviolet rays to precisely adjust the size and shape of silver nanoparticles, tiny but hugely important bits of matter for applications including electronics, environmental monitoring and medical imaging.

In addition, the scientists found a technique for making the silver nanoparticles, whose specific properties depend on how big they are and what form they take, stable in the presence of light and oxygen, helping to ensure consistent performance over time.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A chemical reaction that’s vital to a range of commercial and industrial goods may soon be initiated more effectively and less expensively thanks to a collaboration that included Oregon State University College of Engineering researchers.

The study, published in Nature, involves hydrogenation – adding the diatomic hydrogen molecule, H2, to other compounds.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Methanol, important for the manufacture of many everyday goods and for its green energy potential, may soon be produced faster and more efficiently thanks to a collaboration that included two Oregon State University researchers.

Zhenxing Feng and Alvin Chang of the OSU College of Engineering helped characterize a novel electrocatalyst developed by collaborators at Yale University and helped explain the improved efficiency for deriving methanol from carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that’s largely responsible for global climate change.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A Corvallis-centered technology consortium will receive $45 million to develop, scale and manufacture microfluidics technologies critical for artificial intelligence computing, manufacturing of advanced semiconductors and new approaches to disease research and treatment.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists including an Oregon State University chemistry researcher have taken a key step toward next-generation optical computing and memory with the discovery of luminescent nanocrystals that can be quickly toggled from light to dark and back again.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers have synthesized new molecules able to quickly capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, an important tactic in climate change mitigation.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University scientists have found a way to more than double the uptake ability of a chemical structure that can be used for scrubbing carbon dioxide from factory flues.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An Oregon State University researcher has helped create a new 3D printing approach for shape-changing materials that are likened to muscles, opening the door for improved applications in robotics as well as biomedical and energy devices.

The liquid crystalline elastomer structures printed by Devin Roach of the OSU College of Engineering and collaborators can crawl, fold and snap directly after printing.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An international collaboration that includes an Oregon State University astrophysicist has identified a phenomenon, likened to the quick-footed movements of an iconic cartoon predator, that proves a 19-year-old theory regarding how solar flares are created.

Understanding solar flares is important for predicting space weather and mitigating how it affects technology and human activities, said Vanessa Polito, a courtesy faculty member in OSU’s College of Science.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Laws that let bicyclists treat stop signs as yield signs lead neither riders nor motorists to act unsafely, according to a groundbreaking Oregon State University study.

The project by OSU College of Engineering researchers featured a novel experimental technique – linking separate bicycle and motor vehicle simulators – and the findings are important as more and more states consider bicycle rolling-stop legislation, said David Hurwitz, the study’s leader.