Highlights
May 12, 2026
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Strain-Tunable Valley Separation Boosts Carrier Mobility in 2D Materials
S Afrid, H.L Zhao, A. M. van der Zande, and S. Rakheja
The Illinois MRSEC has developed new multiscale simulations to capture all major sources of scattering that slow down charge flow, and has carefully validated the models with experimental data.
May 11, 2026
University of California - San Diego
Nanoparticle Ligand Exchange with m-Terphenyl Isocyanides
The IRG1 at UCSD demonstrated that the rate and efficiency of “Ligand Exchange via Phase Transfer” (LEPT) using CNArMes2 can be finely adjusted across a wide range of parameters, including the nanoparticle concentration, ligand concentration, pH, and choice of extraction solvent. Additionally, IRG1 revealed that LEPT proceeds via the formation of a Pickering emulsion, which is essential for effective nanoparticle transfer from water to the extraction solvent and is a processing factor that is overlooked in the consideration of how ligand binding and solubility factors affect phase transfer equilibria.
May 11, 2026
University of California - San Diego
A Strong, Reversible, and Conformal Adhesive Gel for Diverse Plants
Jiayu Zhao, Zhecun Guan, Rohan Luthra, Patrick Opdensteinen, Brandon Ho, Xiao Li, Nicole F. Steinmetz, Jinhye Bae, Yong-Jin Park, Min Sub Kwak, and Hyunhyub Ko
The UCSD MRSEC team has developed a universal adhesive gel that forms strong, reversible, and conformal attachment to diverse plant surfaces through the synergistic combination of dynamic covalent bonding and mechanically adaptive hydrogel networks. This gel establishes stable, noninvasive interfaces with both hairy and nonhairy leaves and enables sustained plant attachment under environmental disturbances. Using this platform, the team further demonstrated localized cargo delivery into plant tissues and stable human–plant electrical interaction.
May 11, 2026
University of Delaware
UD-Penn MRSEC Day: Cross-REU Quickfire Competition
Allie Landry, Joseph Madanat, Tochukwu Nwoko, and Ashley Wallace
In the spirit of cross-MRSEC collaboration, the University of Delaware MRSEC (CHARM) and the University of Pennsylvania MRSEC (LRSM) jointly facilitated a joint “MRSEC Day” for their respective REU programs in Summer 2025.
May 11, 2026
University of Delaware
Design of Peptides to Build Stable Ordered Materials on Demand: Patchy peptide particles for pH-responsive assembly into liquid crystals or lattices
Y. Tang, T. Zhang, D. Yang, J. Schwartz, C. Kloxin, J. Saven, and D. Pochan
This work by the MRSEC CHARM team shows how charges are arranged on a peptide particle surface, not just its composition, governs how it assembles for the predictable control of biomolecular assemblies across extreme conditions.
May 11, 2026
University of Delaware
Magnon-Induced Electric Polarization and Magnon Nernst Effects
D. Q. To, F. Garcia-Gaitan, Y. Ren, J. M. O. Zide, M. B. Jungfleisch, J. Q. Xiao, B. K. Nikolić, G. W. Bryant, and M. F. Doty
The MRSEC CHARM team. has created a theoretical formalism that shows that the transport of magnons can induce measurable electric polarization — a discovery that points the way toward enabling the control and detection of magnon spin and orbital transport with electrical or optical methods. .
May 11, 2026
University of Delaware
A Reimagined “Golden Penny” Demonstration: A New Electrochemistry Twist on a Classic Experiment for High School Students
Fabian Dauzvardis, Lauren Genova, Joel Rosenthal
CHARM’s Foundations for Outreach & Recruitment of Great Engineers & Scientists (FORGES) brings a group of local high school students to UD’s campus for one week during the summer where they participate in hands-on STEM activities with various departments across campus (e.g., Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Christiana Care’s Gene Editing Institute).
May 11, 2026
UMN Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
Pushing the Limits of Topotactic Transformation Speed in Oxide Electrochemical Transistors
C. D. Frisbie, C. Leighton (IRG-1)
Research in IRG-1 in the UMN MRSEC has brought oxide electrochemical transistors to the verge of applications. Cycling endurance and switching speed are the two final roadblocks to realistic devices. Last year, a major, record-breaking advance was made with cycling endurance. This year, a record-breaking advance with switching speed has been made.
May 11, 2026
UMN Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
Prediction of Temperature-Dependent Relaxation in Quantum Systems for Quantum Information Science
K. Head-Marsden (Seed)
Research in this Seed has resulted in important methods to theoretically predict decoherence, or information loss, in quantum systems that could function as quantum computers or quantum sensors. The project developed algorithms for practical implementation on current noisy-intermediate scale quantum computers.
May 6, 2026
Columbia University in the City of New York
Ballistic photodetectors at room temperature from superatomic polarons
Timothy Berkelbach, Cory Dean, Milan Delor, Colin Nuckolls, David Reichman, Xavier Roy, and Xiaoyang Zhu, Columbia University, Center for Precision Assembled Quantum Materials (PAQM)
IRG2 has pushed the boundaries of energy transport in superatomic materials, making major strides in controlling phonon, electron, and exciton interactions. The team published a breakthrough report in Science 2023 demonstrating the emergence of acoustic exciton-polarons in the van der Waals superatomic semiconductor Re6Se8Cl2 (Fig. 1a,b)—quasiparticles that enable ultrafast, phonon-shielded transport, surpassing silicon over nanoseconds. The team also uncovered coherent superradiant transport in 1D superatomic crystals.
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