By: John C. Besley, Michigan State University; Aaron M. McCright, Michigan State University; Joseph D. Martin, University of Leeds; Kevin Elliott, Michigan State University, and Nagwan Zahry, Michigan State University

A soda company sponsoring nutrition research. An oil conglomerate helping fund a climate-related research meeting. Does the public care who’s paying for science?
In a word, yes. When industry funds science, credibility suffers. And this does not bode well for the types of public-private research partnerships that appear to be becoming more prevalent as government funding for research and development lags.

The recurring topic of conflict of interest has made headlines in recent weeks. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has revised its conflict of interest guidelines following questions about whether members of a recent expert panel on GMOs had industry ties or other financial conflicts that were not disclosed in the panel’s final report.

Our own recent research speaks to how hard it may be for the public to see research as useful when produced with an industry partner, even when that company is just one of several collaborators.

What people think of funding sources

We asked our study volunteers what they thought about a proposed research partnership to study the potential risks related to either genetically modified foods or trans fats.

We randomly assigned participants to each evaluate one of 15 different research partnership arrangements – various combinations of scientists from a university, a government agency, a nongovernmental organization and a large food company.

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Researchers have created a flexible electronic device that can easily degrade just by adding a weak acid like vinegar.

“In my group, we have been trying to mimic the function of human skin to think about how to develop future electronic devices,” says Stanford University engineer Zhenan Bao.

She described how skin is stretchable, self-healable, and also biodegradable—an attractive list of characteristics for electronics. “We have achieved the first two [flexible and self-healing], so the biodegradability was something we wanted to tackle.”

A United Nations Environment Program report found that almost 50 million tons of electronic waste were thrown out in 2017—more than 20 percent higher than waste in 2015.

“This is the first example of a semiconductive polymer that can decompose,” says lead author Ting Lei, a postdoctoral fellow working with Bao.

In addition to the polymer—essentially a flexible, conductive plastic—the team developed a degradable electronic circuit and a new biodegradable substrate material for mounting the electrical components. This substrate supports the electrical components, flexing and molding to rough and smooth surfaces alike. When the electronic device is no longer needed, the whole thing can biodegrade into nontoxic components.

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Hydrogen has many highly sought after qualities when it comes to clean energy sources. It is a simple element, high in energy, and produces nearly zero harmful emissions. However, while hydrogen is one of the most plentiful elements in the universe, it does not occur naturally as a gas. Instead, we find it combined with other elements, like oxygen in the form of water. For many researchers, water-splitting has been a way to isolate hydrogen for use in cars, houses, and other sustainable fuels.

But water-splitting requires an effective catalyst to speed up chemical reactions, while simultaneously preventing the gasses to recombine. Researchers from the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory believe they may have the answer with the new development of a molybdenum coating that can potentially improve water-splitting.

“When you split water into hydrogen and oxygen, the gaseous products of the reaction are easily recombined back to water and it’s crucial to avoid this,” says Angel Garcia-Esparza, lead author of the study. “We discovered that a molybdenum-coated catalyst is capable of selectively producing hydrogen from water while inhibiting the back reactions of water formation.”

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The consumer demand for seamless, integrated technology is on the rise, and with it grows the Internet of Things, which is expected to grow to a multitrillion-dollar market by 2020. But in order to develop a fully integrated electronic network, flexible, lightweight, rechargeable power sources will be required.

A team of researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology is looking to address that issue, developing inkjet-printed batteries that can be modified to fit devices of any shape and size. The team reports that the newly developed inks can be printed onto paper to create a new class of printed supercapacitors.

(READ: Rise of Cyber Attacks: Security in the Digital Age)

This from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology:

The process involves using a conventional inkjet printer to print a preparatory coating—a ‘wood cellulose-based nanomat’—onto a normal piece of A4 paper. Next, an ink of activated carbon and single-walled nanotubes is printed onto the nanomat, followed by an ink made of silver nanowires in water. These two inks form the electrodes. Finally, an electrolyte ink—formed of an ionic liquid mixed with a polymer that changes its properties when exposed to ultraviolet light—is printed on top of the electrodes. The inks are exposed at various stages to ultraviolet irradiation and finally the whole assembly is sealed onto the piece of paper with an adhesive film.

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Two discoveries could provide a simple and effective way to “stencil” high-quality 2D materials in precise locations and overcome a barrier to their use in next-generation electronics.

In 2004, the discovery of a way to isolate a single atomic layer of carbon—graphene —opened a new world of 2D materials with properties not necessarily found in the familiar 3D world. Among these materials are a large group of elements—transition metals—that fall in the middle of the periodic table.

When atoms of certain transition metals, for instance molybdenum, are layered between two layers of atoms from the chalcogenide elements, such as sulfur or selenium, the result is a three-layer sandwich called a transition metal dichalcogenide. TMDs have created tremendous interest among materials scientists because of their potential for new types of electronics, optoelectronics and computation.

“What we have focused on in this paper is the ability to make these materials over large areas of a substrate in precisely the places we want them,” says Joshua Robinson, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State. “These materials are of interest for a variety of next-generation electronics, not necessarily to replace silicon, but to augment current technologies and ultimately to bring new chip functionality to silicon that we never had before.”

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By: Mohammad S. Jalali, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

From social to natural and applied sciences, overall scientific output has been growing worldwide – it doubles every nine years.

Traditionally, researchers solve a problem by conducting new experiments. With the ever-growing body of scientific literature, though, it is becoming more common to make a discovery based on the vast number of already-published journal articles. Researchers synthesize the findings from previous studies to develop a more complete understanding of a phenomenon. Making sense of this explosion of studies is critical for scientists not only to build on previous work but also to push research fields forward.

My colleagues Hazhir Rahmandad and Kamran Paynabar and I have developed a new, more robust way to pull together all the prior research on a particular topic. In a five-year joint project between MIT and Georgia Tech, we worked to create a new technique for research aggregation. Our recently published paper in PLOS ONE introduces a flexible method that helps synthesize findings from prior studies, even potentially those with diverse methods and diverging results. We call it generalized model aggregation, or GMA.

Pulling it all together

Narrative reviews of the literature have long been a key component of scientific publications. The need for more comprehensive approaches has led to the emergence of two other very useful methods: systematic review and meta-analysis.

In a systematic review, an author finds and critiques all prior studies around a similar research question. The idea is to bring a reader up to speed on the current state of affairs around a particular research topic.

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We are pleased to announce that early bird registration for SOFC-XV, being held in Hollywood, FL at the Diplomat Beach Resort from July 23-28, 2017 is now open!

This meeting provides an opportunity to learn and exchange information on the latest scientific and technical developments relating to SOFCs and SOECs. With over 400 abstracts submitted to this symposium, this meeting is sure to draw some of the best and brightest in the field.

Registration packages also include access to the meeting abstracts, a USB/CD-ROM of the proceedings published in ECS Transactions, and a ticket for the SOFC banquet.

Early bird rates will only be available until June 16, 2017.

Exhibit and sponsorship options are still available!

For more information contact sponsorship@electrochem.org.

ECS has nearly 70 student chapters around the world, offering young researchers an opportunity to network with peers, collaborate on research, and become part of a larger scientific community. The ECS Oklahoma Student Chapter is one of three new chapters chartered by the ECS Board of Directors on March 7, 2017.

“We decided to initiate the very first student chapter for the state of Oklahoma to promote the electrochemical science among undergraduate and graduate students,” says Charuksha Walgama, president of the chapter and graduate research assistant at Oklahoma State University. “This way we can generate more opportunities for fellow students and connect them to the ECS network worldwide.”

According to Walgama, being a member of the ECS Oklahoma Student Chapter could help students gain professional and leadership experiences, connect with fellow ECS members locally and internationally, and help prepare students to deliver presentations for a global audience at ECS meetings.

Additionally, Walgama believes the chapter could act as a venue to connect students across the state, opening new networking opportunities and a forum for the exchange of research and information.

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Exploring the possibilities of Gallium Oxide

Semiconductor materials make possible many of today’s technological advances, from handheld electronics to solar cells and even electric vehicles. Specifically, wide bandgap semiconductors have opened new opportunities in ultra-high power electronics applications for utility grid management, military radar systems, and smart grid technologies. In order for these emerging technologies to be successful, researchers are looking to develop materials that are stronger, faster, and more efficient than ever before.

“New materials are the cornerstone of innovation in technology since they allow improved performance and lead to new applications and markets,” says Stephen Pearton, ECS fellow and professor at the University of Florida. “The semiconductor industry has a long history of such innovation and Gallium Oxide (Ga₂O₃) is a promising new material to continue this trend.”

Pearton recently co-authored an open access Perspective article published in the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, “Opportunities and Future Directions for Ga₂O₃,” discussing the potential for Gallium Oxide to surpass conventional semiconductor materials, emphasizing its capability to handle extremely high power applications. ECS’s Perspective articles provide a platform for author’s to offer insight into emerging or established fields.

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