New Materials

UF materials engineers and medical faculty collaborated on tissue scaffolds for spinal cord repair. Researchers are also developing better ocular implants and coronary artery stents.

Researchers are applying thin metallic films to solar cells, LEDs and cutting-edge optical devices. The films serve as artificial eyelids, designed to shield optical sensors—such as human eyes—from dangerous light sources like lasers.

Our mechanical and aerospace engineers, together with faculty from the Department of Chemistry, have developed paint that is pressure sensitive and temperature sensitive. Used on cars and planes, this revolutionary paint contains sensors that continuously indicate information about the surface of an aerodynamic object. Ultimately, the paint will be used to detect problems and pinpoint damage.

UF materials engineers tapped elements of sharks' unique scales to design an environmentally friendly coating for hulls of ocean-going ships, which prevents the growth of a notoriously aggressive marine algae and may also impede barnacles.