biomaterials

Scientists have been searching for ethical, high-quality alternatives to animal leather, which notoriously comes with environmental costs and ethical compromises. While synthetic alternatives solve the ethical dilemma, many of them are plastic-based and very difficult to recycle. Now, researchers are trying to find an option that checks all the boxes, and the best material for it seems to be … mu…

People using prosthetic limbs may one day be able to feel pressure, temperature and even differences between surfaces thanks to a new type of electronic skin developed by researchers at Washington State University. The technology, described in Cell Reports Physical Science, uses a network of tiny sensors designed to fit closely around prosthetic limbs. According […] The post New Electronic Skin C…

Nature Communications, Published online: 22 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76133-y Handedness in synthetic systems can be challenging to control. Here, the authors report the development of homogeneous hydrogels with programmable, handed shape morphing, including helices and twists, as a result of photoexpansion.

MXenes have been widely reviewed as biomedical nanomaterials for sensing, therapy, imaging, drug delivery and tissue engineering. However, most reviews organize MXene studies by biomedical application categories rather than mechanical conditions under which MXene-containing interfaces operate. This leaves an important gap for biomechanical engineering: how MXene-based soft interfaces maintain sig…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-67703-7 Activated carbon production from apple orchard woody waste using a fluidized bed reactor with freezing pretreatment to establish a local circular economy system

Nature Communications, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77065-3 Here the authors tested lab-grown blood vessels as heart bypass grafts in sheep, adding an external support to prevent kinking. The vessels stayed open for 18 months, even after blood thinners were stopped, while transforming into living, functional tissue.

Proteins form complex three-dimensional shapes and can join together to create larger structures. Researchers want to utilize these properties to make artificial materials. However, arranging proteins and synthetic molecules together with a high level of structural precision is no easy task. This is...

Proteins form complex three-dimensional shapes and can join together to create larger structures. Researchers want to utilize these properties to make artificial materials. However, arranging proteins and synthetic molecules together with a high level of structural precision is no easy task. This is...

A team of Rowan researchers is turning collaborative research into a startup focused on helping bones heal faster and more effectively.

The medicinal plant Kedrostis nana is a relatively understudied species that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is important to understand the pharmacological potential of traditional medicinal plants such as K. nana as it could have potential in various clinical applications, especially since there have been so many advancements in the biomedical sector. Nanoparticles have also become of in…

Drawing inspiration from the dynamic architecture of living systems, researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo and Kyoto University have harnessed two chemically fueled biomolecular nanomachines, DNA polymerase and kinesin, to synthesize and actively assemble complex, hierarchical DNA networks.

Researchers developed isosorbide-based plasticizers that made brittle poly(isosorbide carbonate) more flexible while preserving its ability to undergo ammonolysis after use. The resulting degradation products supported plant growth, including in an edible vegetable, highlighting a new way to design plastics with a useful end-of-life function.

Researchers combined synthetic DNA with a semiconductor to create an ultra-low-power memory device capable of storing and processing information in the same place. The bio-hybrid technology could eventually help make AI systems and next-generation computers far more energy efficient.

Metamaterials have been a hot topic over the past 2 decades, involving scientific research directions in materials, engineering, and physics. Among them, programmable mechanical metamaterials are an emerging class of metamaterials that offer intelligent programming and control of diverse mechanical properties, such as stiffness, damping, thermal expansion, and shape memory behavior. Meanwhile, it…

Metamaterials are a group of materials/structures which possess novel behaviors not existing in nature. The metamaterials include electromagnetic metamaterials, acoustic metamaterials, mechanical metamaterials, etc. among which the mechanical metamaterials are widely used in the field of biomedical engineering. The mechanical metamaterials are the ones that possess special mechanical behaviors, e…

A team of Rowan researchers is turning collaborative research into a startup focused on helping bones heal faster and more effectively.

Lumber made from recycled plastic bottles, coffee cups, and other plastics, that is strong enough to support 120-ton trains. New varieties of oysters that have become an important part of the worldwide aquaculture industry. Both innovations were developed at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and both will be recipients of 2026 Edison Patent Awards.