Market Insights
Bioprospecting offers novel pathway to discovering new mineral deposits
“There’s gold in them there hills!” The famous Gold Rush exclamation may also be true for copper, nickel, cobalt, or rare earths, minerals that in the right hands can be as valuable as gold. In the Gold Rush days, miners used pickaxes, shovels, and pans to hunt for the glittery…
Market Insights
ACerS Learning Center: Bridging the gap between formal education and the plant floor
If you have been in the ceramics and glass field for more than a few years, chances are you already work with materials or processes that were not part of your formal education. From additive manufacturing and novel sintering processes to alternative energy technologies and advanced computer systems, the list…
Market Insights
Markets for electricity and hydrogen energy storage
The growing renewable energy market drives demand for improved and novel methods of large-scale energy storage. Energy storage systems help prevent grid shutdowns by storing and then returning energy to the grid at more convenient times. Two recent BCC Research reports investigate the global markets for electricity and hydrogen energy…
Research Insights
Additive manufacturing of novel hydrogel feedstocks for aerospace applications
The aerospace industry relies on highly specialized, custom-engineered components that can withstand extreme environments. Traditionally, manufacturing these parts requires complex tooling, expensive molds, and intricate, multistep supply chains, which are susceptible to global disruptions. However, the emerging field of additive manufacturing offers a resilient solution to these production challenges by…
Research Insights
Artificial intelligence is reshaping glass understanding and design
For centuries, the development of glass relied on costly, slow trial-and-error experiments guided by chemical intuition and accumulated industrial know-how. This paradigm is now changing because modern high-throughput computation and machine learning (ML) algorithms can uncover hidden potential in a short amount of time. A stimulus for this transition was…
Bulletin Features
Aerospace maintenance: The need for improved understanding of interfacial failure
Since the mid-20th century, aerospace structures have been increasingly defined not by bolts and rivets but by bonds. Thin interfacial joining layers—including polymeric adhesives, glass solders, and other ceramic and metallic joining materials—enable lightweight assembly of structural components while also reducing stress concentrations associated with mechanical fasteners. From fuselages to…
Bulletin Features
Exploring microgravity manufacturing on the Starlab commercial space station
As manufacturers push for higher-performing reliable materials and greater production precision, researchers and industrial developers are increasingly exploring how space-based manufacturing can support materials processing. On Earth, manufacturing processes are influenced by gravity-driven effects, such as buoyancy, convection, and sedimentation, which make accomplishing uniform production of certain materials extremely difficult…
Bulletin Features
Novel superhard diamond composites synthesized through established technologies
Although many people associate diamonds with expensive gemstones, the vast majority of diamonds serve as industrial materials instead. Diamond is the hardest natural material available in abundance. It also has the highest thermal conductivity of any known bulk material, and it provides broad transparency from deep ultraviolet to infrared. These…
