Highlights

Mar 21, 2009

UMass Amherst Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (2008)

Macroscopic Addressable Arrays of Block Copolymers With Areal Densities of 10 Terabit/inch2 and Beyond

A collaboration between researchers funded by the DOE and NSF-supported MRSEC and CHM at UC Berkeley and UMASS Amherst has led to a breakthrough in the areal density of templates derived from block copolymers (BCPs) having orientational registry over macroscopic distances. The facets on a reconstructed single crystal surface, like sapphire, were used to guide and direct the self-assembly of BCPs having 3 nm cylindrical domains over arbitrarily large surfaces. Grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GISAXS) quantitatively demonstrated

Mar 9, 2009

Cornell Center for Materials Research (2017)

Chemical Exercise Makes Nanoparticles Work Faster

Mar 9, 2009

MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering (2014)

Fundamental MIT MRSEC research enables life-saving technology

Yoel Fink (MIT), John Joannopoulos (MIT), Edwin Thomas (MIT)

Technology based on fundamental studies carried out within our MRSEC is now saving lives at hospitals across the country: over 175 novel endoscopic surgical procedures per week are being carried out across 250 medical facilities in the U. S. using high-power laser radiation delivered by OmniGuide photonic fibers.

Mar 9, 2009

Cornell Center for Materials Research (2017)

Chemical Exercise Makes Nanoparticles Work Faster

Feb 16, 2009

UNL Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (2014)

Lessons and Activities for Science Teachers

Verona Skomski and Roger D. Kirby (Nebraska MRSEC)

Feb 13, 2009

Carnegie Mellon University MRSEC (2005)

PREM Collaboration yields scientific and educational results

Robert Smith, Rufina Alamo, and Michael Bockstaller

A collaboration between PREM partners, Michael Bockstaller (CMU) and Rufina Alamo (FAMU) had great outcomes for both science and education. A student from Alamos's group at FAMU, Robert Smith, joined Bockstaller's group during the summer to study the effect of selective chlorine substitution on the crystallization of polyethylene. Scientifically, the collaboration resulted in two publications co-authored by Smith, Bockstaller, Alamo, and others (see figures below). Educationally, Smith's exposure to graduate research at CMU led him to apply for graduate school at CMU and elsewhere.

Feb 13, 2009

Carnegie Mellon University MRSEC (2005)

Grain Boundary Lifetimes

Shen Dillon and Gregory Rohrer

The types of grain boundaries that make up the interfacial network within polycrystalline solids influence the properties and performance of the material. The population of grain boundary types is anisotropic, meaning that some of the types are found more frequently than others.

Feb 12, 2009

MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering (2014)

Nanoscale Variations in “Bulk" Material Properties

Eric Hudson (MIT)

Feb 10, 2009

MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering (2014)

Living cells fitted with “nano-backpacks" may ferry drugs to disease sites

Robert Cohen (MIT), Darrell Irvine (MIT), Michael Rubner (MIT)

Jan 28, 2009

Princeton Center for Complex Materials (2014)

Adhesion and Interfacial Fracture in Soft and Hard Materials

Kurt Wolf, Arjenta Orana, Roy Fennimore, George Papandreou, and Cynthia Maryanoff (Johnson & Johnson)

One of the challenges in developing robust multilayers is the need to predict the interfacial strength between hard and soft materials. For example, in the case of drug eluting stents that are being used increasingly to treat arteriosclerosis, there are concerns that the drug-eluting layer may detach from the polymeric layers that are used to attach the soft drug eluting layers to the hard metallic stent substrate.