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This may resemble an alien landscape, but it is actually a microscopic view of tin used to solder electronic components. The long shard rising from the surface is a ‘tin whisker’ – a spontaneous outgrowth representing a clear and present danger to space missions.
The phenomenon was first identified within terrestrial electronics, but these whiskers are known to grow rapidly out of pure tin in the weightlessness, vacuum and temperature extremes of space.
Typically, these crystalline filaments are just a few thousands of a millimetre thick, though may extend more than a thousand times further in length. They are electrically conductive and so can threaten catastrophic short circuits: the US Galaxy IV telecommunications satellite was lost due to this issue in 1998.
The traditional method of preventing tin whiskers was to add lead – but lead is toxic, so its use in solder has been phased out through the EU’s Reduction of Hazardous Substances directive. ESA and European space industry have been granted a waiver to continue using tin–lead alloy for solder, but not an indefinite one.
“We’ve been researching alternative methods to arrest the growth of tin whiskers,” explains ESA materials engineer Jussi Hokka. “We’ve investigated a technique called atomic layer deposition, widely used in the semiconductor industry to lay down a metal oxide film just a few nanometres deep.
“Over a time period of up to a year, this application has led to a significant reduction in the number of tin whiskers, although we don’t yet know if this is due to the surface barrier laid down or some factor of the overall process.”
ESA worked with a consortium led by Finnish specialist Picosun, supported by Finnish packaging specialist Poltronic Ltd and Loughborough University in the UK.
Follow-up research is now underway. Success will undoubtedly have wider applications: tin whiskers are also re-emerging as a problem of terrestrial electronics now that pure tin solder is in widespread use.
ESA’s Tommaso Ghidini comments: “Tin whiskers remain in many respects a mysterious metallurgical phenomenon. But if this technique proves to be successful, we could safely use pure tin as a green option, foregoing carcinogenic lead – not only for space but also for automotive, aeronautics and large other industrial domains, while guaranteeing equivalent engineering performance.”
Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Sky Sharks, Meet Sharknado! Tech Innovation From Nikon! - IMRAN™
This news item caught my attention today. Even though I had not (and would not) see the movies Sky Sharks or Sharknado, the movie references came to mind immediately.
"Nikon unveils sharkskin-inspired riblet technology for aviation and power" ( lnkd.in/ebTXK9qW ). It basically is a biomimetic technology which mimics the amazing surface structure of shark skin. Nikon’s proprietary laser processing creates riblets which are artificial microstructures which resemble the fine scales on a shark’s skin. The materials have many applications from aviation to power generation.
© 2025 IMRAN™
(A little something from work.)
Backscattered Electron Image taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope
Sample was mounted and polished
If you look at a metal, you find that it has grains like wood. It can also have different phases like concrete. In this case, the dark material is elemental Cr, the medium gray material is Cu and the lightest material is an alloy of Cu and Zr. During solidification, the Cr solidified first as dendrites that look like pine trees. Next was the pure Cu and finally the Cu-Zr phase immediately thereafter. cutting a plane through the 3D structure results in an image like this.
"Lack of success in research can be demoralising but sometimes it can result in unforeseen success.
While looking into functional materials for the European Space Agency, a novel method was undertaken to produce a specific Ferrosilicon product from the gas phase.
The image shows an example of preferential crystalline growth in the gas phase, taken using a Scanning Electron Microscope. These highly organised crystals were formed with lengths of around 100 microns square."
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"Mae diffyg llwyddiant mewn ymchwil yn gallu eich digalonni, ond weithiau gall arwain at lwyddiant annisgwyl.
Wrth ymchwilio i ddeunyddiau gweithredol ar gyfer yr Asiantaeth Ofod Ewropeaidd, defnyddiwyd dull newydd er mwyn creu cynnyrch Fferosilicon penodol o’r wedd nwy.
Crëwyd y ddelwedd hon gan ddefnyddio Microsgop Sganio Electron ac mae’n dangos enghraifft o dwf crisialaidd ffafriol yn ystod y wedd nwy. Ffurfiwyd y crisialau trefnus dros ben hyn tua 100 o ficronau sgwâr ar eu hyd."
Frank Forward Building. Home of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering. The department of Mining and Mineral Process Engineering was located on the top floor. (After 1987 Metallurgical Engineering was renamed Metals and Material Engineering. It is presently called the Department of Materials Engineering)
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
At the Faculty of Economics (or was it Business? lol) One of the most beautifully designed places in UM :)
Unfortunately that banner (or is that a curtain) was not part of the photoshoot plan haha, but we just fooled around with it anyway :D
* You don't wanna know what that cloth is for XD
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Smile guys, and make memories :D
*Not an easy shot to take considering I don't have a wide-angled lens >_<
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
Work by a team of Penn State researchers led by Mohammad Reza Abidian may lead the way to the microencapsulation of chemotherapeutics. The breakthrough would allow doctors to directly inject medication to a brain tumor area and control the amount of medicine being dispersed. The work allows for control of size, shape, and drug release.
A few pictures of intriguing bits found in and around Loughborough University's IPTME department....
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
A few pictures of intriguing bits found in and around Loughborough University's IPTME department....
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk
Taken around the Loughborough Univesirty IPTME department. Thepictures show the various stages of materials analysis.
All Photos ©Kev Grange 2009
For more details see www.KevGrange.com or email Kev@KevGrange.co.uk