Lightweight structures for heat and capture
Aerogels use a fine porous network. Vrulum covers silica aerogels and related work in aerogels.
Vrulum directory · 38 profiles
Materials
Explore technologies based on engineered materials, from metamaterials and advanced polymers to material systems used in energy, electronics and manufacturing.
Browse by approach
Materials in use and in development
Material performance depends on composition, structure and how it is made. These pathways lead to profiles that explain the evidence and the remaining limits.
Properties shaped by architecture
Explore mechanical metamaterials, self-healing polymers and 4D printing.
Materials for devices and storage
Compare research on 2D semiconductors, solid-state batteries and sodium-ion batteries.
38 technologies
2D semiconductor electronics
Also: 2D semiconductors, Two-dimensional semiconductor transistors, MoS2 transistorsTwo-dimensional semiconductors such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) form sheets only a few atoms thick and could make transistors that keep working at very small sizes. Lab devices and a small 1-bit processor have been demonstrated, but no production chips built from these materials are described in the sources reviewed here.
Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterials3D-printed buildings
Also: 3D concrete printing, 3DCP, 3D-printed houses3D-printed buildings are made by a large robotic printer that extrudes a concrete-like mix layer by layer to form walls. A community of 100 printed homes in Texas was reported in 2024 as nearing completion, and a printed social housing scheme in Ireland was reported as built, according to its builder's company. Most lab studies find printed concrete weaker than cast concrete, and a standard for printed walls was approved in July 2026 but is not yet known to be adopted into building codes.
Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterials4D printing
Also: Four-dimensional printing, Shape-changing 3D printing, Programmable printed materials4D printing makes 3D-printed objects that change shape after printing, in response to heat, water or a magnetic field. Laboratory demonstrations are well documented. The stent work described here has been tested only in cell cultures and mice.
Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsAcoustic levitation
Also: Ultrasonic levitation, Acoustic manipulation, Mid-air acoustic manipulationAcoustic levitation uses arrays of ultrasonic emitters to form standing waves that hold and move small particles and droplets in air without touching them. Laboratory experiments have shown contact-free, three-dimensional movement of millimetre-scale objects, but the working volumes and payloads are small.
Experimental cross-disciplinary systems · Advanced materials and metamaterialsAerogels
Also: Silica aerogel, Aerogel insulation, Ceramic aerogelsAerogels are extremely porous, very low-density solids made by removing the liquid from a gel while keeping its solid network intact. Silica aerogels are already used as high-performance thermal insulation and in space missions, but they are brittle and need careful drying to make.
Advanced materials and metamaterialsArtificial muscles (soft actuators)
Also: Soft actuators, Muscle-like actuators, HASEL actuatorsArtificial muscles are soft materials and devices that contract, expand or twist when given heat, electricity or fluid pressure, producing movement in a way that resembles biological muscle. Laboratory systems span heated fibres, pneumatic structures and electrohydraulic or dielectric elastomer actuators. A 2026 dielectric elastomer demonstrated large strain over repeated cycles and recovery after damage, but its repairs required hours of heating and the wider field still faces power, control, safety and scale-up constraints.
Robotics and artificial muscles · Advanced materials and metamaterialsArtificial photosynthesis
Also: Artificial leaf, Artificial leaves, Solar water splittingArtificial leaves are devices that use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in one integrated unit. Laboratory modules have reached about 11% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency under one-sun illumination, but durability and outdoor performance at useful scale have not yet been shown.
Energy and storage · Climate and environment · Advanced materials and metamaterialsAtmospheric water harvesting (MOF/sorbent based)
Also: Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting, SAWH, MOF water harvestingSorbent-based atmospheric water harvesting captures water vapour in porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks, then releases it for collection as liquid water. Prototypes have operated in desert conditions, including at very low humidity, but measured output depends on sorbent mass, climate and device design. A key bottleneck is moving released vapour to a condenser cool enough to collect it.
Climate and environment · Advanced materials and metamaterialsAutonomous laboratories
Also: Self-driving laboratories, Autonomous research laboratories, Closed-loop experimental laboratoriesAutonomous laboratories combine automated instruments with software that selects or adapts experiments based on measured results. Research platforms have demonstrated this approach in catalyst discovery, nanoparticle synthesis, inorganic powder synthesis, multi-step fluidic chemistry, protein engineering, exploratory chemistry and optical-material screening. Their autonomy is bounded by human-defined objectives, selected candidate spaces, configured instruments and validation requirements; the examples do not show general-purpose laboratories that independently choose and verify any scientific question.
AI and autonomous agents · Advanced manufacturing · Biotechnology and synthetic biology · Advanced materials and metamaterialsBioresorbable (transient) electronics
Also: Transient electronics, Dissolvable electronics, Biodegradable implantable electronicsBioresorbable electronics are working circuits, sensors and stimulators made from materials designed to dissolve in the body after a set time. They aim to provide temporary implants, such as short-term pacemakers or brain pressure monitors, that never need surgical removal.
Medical technology and bioelectronics · Advanced materials and metamaterialsCarbon-storing building materials
Also: Carbon-storing concrete, Biochar concrete, Carbonated concreteCarbon-storing building materials add carbon-rich biochar to concrete, or cure cement-based products with CO2 so that the gas becomes solid minerals. Pilot and small field trials were reported in 2025, but whether they give a net climate benefit over a full lifecycle is not yet established.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Climate and environment · Advanced manufacturingCatalytic converters
Also: Catalytic converter, Autocatalyst, Three-way catalystA catalytic converter is a device in a petrol car's exhaust that uses a catalyst to turn carbon monoxide, unburnt fuel and nitrogen oxides into less harmful gases. It has been fitted to new petrol cars in the United States since the mid-1970s, and it depends on lead-free petrol.
Climate and environment · Advanced materials and metamaterialsDirect air capture of CO2
Also: Direct air capture, DAC, Atmospheric CO2 captureDirect air capture uses chemical sorbents to pull carbon dioxide from ambient air and concentrate it for storage. The technology is at an early commercial stage, and cost per tonne and energy use are the main open questions.
Climate and environment · Advanced materials and metamaterialsElastocaloric cooling
Also: Elastocaloric refrigeration, Solid-state cooling with shape-memory alloys, Stress-driven caloric coolingElastocaloric cooling uses mechanical stress to make a shape-memory material warm and cool as its crystal structure changes. Laboratory systems have produced continuous cold air, kilowatt-scale cooling at zero temperature lift, and a small heat-driven device. The results are promising engineering demonstrations, but efficiency, fatigue life, system cost and performance under useful operating conditions remain open questions.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsElectronic skin
Also: e-skin, artificial skin, skin-like electronicsElectronic skin is a family of thin, flexible or stretchable electronic sheets that sense touch, pressure, temperature or body signals in the way human skin does. Laboratory prototypes have shown pressure mapping, skin-mounted health sensing and stretchable transistor circuits. A 2026 study used soft optical waveguides to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of a sensing sheet, but this remains a research demonstrator rather than a ready-to-wear system.
Sensors, imaging and electronic skin · Advanced materials and metamaterialsEngineered living materials
Also: ELMs, Biofabricated living materialsEngineered living materials are materials made with the help of living cells or the structures they produce. A 2024 laboratory study made a stretchable, compostable film from engineered bacterial protein fibres, but the work is at prototype stage and does not show a product that can replace plastic.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Biotechnology and synthetic biologyHoverboards
Also: Hover boards, Self-balancing boards, Levitating boardsA complete guide to wheeled hoverboards, magnetic levitation and flying platforms: what has been demonstrated, what each approach requires, and what remains speculative.
Experimental cross-disciplinary systems · Robotics and artificial muscles · Advanced materials and metamaterialsIn-space manufacturing
Also: In-orbit manufacturing, Space manufacturing, In-space productionIn-space manufacturing means making, repairing or recycling parts and materials in orbit rather than launching everything from Earth. Early results include optical fibre drawn on the International Space Station, a small semiconductor crystal grown on the China Space Station, and a pharmaceutical crystal form made on a commercial capsule. Most results are reported by the organisations that ran the experiments, only some have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and none has yet been shown to work as a repeatable production process.
Space and aerospace · Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsIndustrial steelmaking
Also: Steel production, Bessemer process, Basic oxygen steelmakingIndustrial steelmaking turns molten iron into steel by removing carbon and other impurities. The main methods date from the Bessemer process of 1856 and the open-hearth furnace, and today's routes are the basic oxygen furnace and the electric arc furnace.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Advanced manufacturingLithium-ion batteries
Also: Li-ion batteries, Lithium-ion cells, Li-ion rechargeable batteriesLithium-ion batteries store and release electricity by moving lithium ions between two electrodes, and they power electric cars. Their cost and energy density keep changing, but fire risk, dependence on nickel-containing chemistries and recycling that is still developing remains an open limit.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsMagnetic levitation
Also: Maglev, Magnetic suspension, Superconducting levitationMagnetic levitation uses magnetic forces to support an object without contact. Maglev trains and laboratory demonstrations show that it works, but stable support usually depends on a purpose-built track or supporting structure, so it is not the same as a free-floating board.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Energy and storage · Experimental cross-disciplinary systemsMechanical metamaterials
Also: Architected materials, Engineered mechanical metamaterialsMechanical metamaterials get their properties mainly from a carefully designed internal structure rather than from the material they are made of. Lab examples include foams that expand sideways when stretched and ultralight lattices with high stiffness, but these are still at laboratory scale.
Advanced materials and metamaterialsMetal additive manufacturing
Also: Metal 3D printing, Metal AM, Laser powder bed fusionMetal additive manufacturing builds metal parts layer by layer, most often by using a laser to melt fine metal powder. It is already in production for some aerospace parts, but flaws inside printed metal, slow qualification and limited data for many alloys still stop it being used for every critical component.
Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsMetasurface optics and flat lenses
Also: Metasurfaces, Metalenses, Flat opticsMetasurfaces are flat layers patterned with structures smaller than the wavelength of light, which bend and focus light in place of curved glass. Research metalenses have now focused the full visible spectrum to one point, but they are research prototypes, and the sources reviewed here give no verified commercial performance figures.
Photonics and optical computing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsMycelium composites
Also: Fungal composites, Mycelium-based composites, Mycelium bio-compositesMycelium composites are light materials made by growing fungal threads through agricultural or wood waste and then drying the result in a mould. Laboratory studies show workable stiffness, fire screening results and shaping options, but strength, moisture resistance and environmental benefit depend on the specific formulation and use.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Advanced manufacturing · Biotechnology and synthetic biologyPassive daytime radiative cooling
Also: PDRC, Daytime radiative cooling, Sub-ambient radiative coolingPassive daytime radiative cooling uses surfaces that reflect almost all sunlight while giving off heat as infrared light that escapes through the atmosphere into space. Laboratory and rooftop tests have cooled surfaces several degrees below the surrounding air in full sun without using electricity.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Climate and environmentRolling bearings
Also: Ball bearings, Roller bearings, Rolling-element bearingsRolling bearings put balls or rollers between a moving part and its support, so the parts roll over each other instead of sliding, which reduces friction. The basic ideas were in place by 1800, but precision manufacture and mass production were still needed to confirm their value. Later work on precision ball grinding and Henry Timken's 1898 tapered roller design made rolling bearings practical for wheels and shafts.
Advanced manufacturing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsSelf-healing polymers
Also: Self-healing materials, Autonomic healing polymers, Remendable polymersSelf-healing polymers are plastics, rubbers and composites that can repair cracks or cuts, either on their own or with a trigger such as heat. Laboratory work since 2001 has shown partial to full recovery of strength in several material families. Bacteria-based concrete has reached full-scale pilots, but most systems remain at the research and prototype stage.
Advanced materials and metamaterialsSmart textiles
Also: Electronic textiles, E-textiles, Fibre electronicsSmart textiles are fabrics with sensors, displays, memory or batteries built into the yarn or fibre itself. Lab demonstrations from 2021 to 2026 show textile displays, sensing fibres and fibre-shaped chips, and at least one garment with fabric sensors is sold, but washing durability is still hard to compare across studies.
Sensors, imaging and electronic skin · Advanced materials and metamaterialsSolar sails
Also: Solar sail, Solar sailingSolar sails are large, very thin reflective membranes that change a spacecraft's speed or orbit using the small, steady push of sunlight rather than fuel. Japan's IKAROS (2010) and NASA's LightSail 2 (2019) showed the method works in space, but the push is very small and the sail must unfold and survive in orbit.
Space and aerospace · Advanced materials and metamaterialsSolid-state batteries
Also: Solid-state lithium batteries, All-solid-state batteriesSolid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte in a conventional lithium-ion cell with a solid material. The proposed benefits include higher energy density. The sources reviewed here describe materials and processing challenges that remain open, and they give no verified cost figures for commercial cells.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsStructural batteries
Also: Structural battery composites, Multifunctional energy-storage composites, Structural power compositesA structural battery stores electrical energy while also carrying mechanical loads, for example in a composite panel whose carbon fibres act as electrodes. Laboratory cells have reported energy densities from about 30 to 187 Wh/kg, depending on design, electrolyte and mass basis, and high stiffness, but no complete vehicle or aircraft powered by a load-bearing battery structure has been demonstrated in the sources reviewed.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsSuperconducting power cables
Also: HTS power cables, High-temperature superconducting cables, Superconducting cablesHigh-temperature superconducting cables can carry large currents through compact conductors when they are kept cold. A small number of cables and fault-current limiters now run in real grids, but these are specialised links rather than a superconducting grid.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsThermoelectric generators
Also: Thermoelectric generator, TEG, Thermoelectric energy harvestingThermoelectric generators turn a temperature difference directly into electricity with no moving parts. Radioisotope versions have powered spacecraft and Mars rovers, while wearable and waste-heat versions remain limited by low conversion efficiency and small usable temperature differences.
Energy and storage · Advanced materials and metamaterialsThin-film lithium niobate photonics
Also: TFLN photonics, Thin-film lithium niobate, Lithium niobate on insulatorThin-film lithium niobate is a chip platform in which light is guided and switched in a thin layer of an electro-optic crystal. Laboratory modulators have carried data at up to 210 gigabits per second, and the same platform makes frequency combs, but commercial foundry supply is only starting and most company performance figures have not been independently checked.
Photonics and optical computing · Advanced materials and metamaterialsTopological qubits
Also: Majorana qubits, Majorana-based qubits, Topological quantum computingTopological qubits aim to store quantum information in Majorana zero modes, which could make the stored information less sensitive to local noise. Microsoft's 2025 Majorana 1 announcement and parity-readout paper are contested, and the existence of a working topological qubit is not yet established.
Quantum technologies · Advanced materials and metamaterialsTransparent wood
Also: Optically transparent wood, Transparent wood composite, Delignified wood with polymer infiltrationTransparent wood is wood in which the light-absorbing lignin has been removed or chemically modified and the open porous structure is filled with a clear polymer, so that light can pass through. Laboratory samples reach up to about 90% total transmittance, but high haze, limits on thickness and unproven outdoor durability keep it at research and prototype stage.
Advanced materials and metamaterialsVulcanised rubber and pneumatic tyres
Also: Pneumatic tyre, Pneumatic tire, Vulcanised rubberVulcanisation, a process that heats rubber with sulphur, was patented by Charles Goodyear in 1844. Air-filled rubber tyres were patented by Robert William Thomson in the 1840s, and John Boyd Dunlop made a practical air-filled tyre in 1888.
Advanced materials and metamaterials · Advanced manufacturing