Starting in 2017, the LRSM and Singh Center for Nanotechnology hosted monthly field trips for Philadelphia middle and high school students. During these visits, students had introductory lessons on Materials Science and Nanotechnology and suited up for the clean room at the Quattrone Nanofabrication facility, where they observed and, when possible, assisted with lithography and soft-lithography. 124 students from four schools participated in the field trip program, of which 81% were URM and 96% were low-income (i.e., they qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program).

Large-area growth of monolayer films of transition metal dichalcogenides is important in the rapidly advancing research field of topological materials, because scientists believe tungsten ditelluride has so-called “topological” electronic states. To this end, the Penn MRSEC SuperSeed team (Rappe, Johnson) and IRG faculty (Carpick, IRG-3; Kikkawa, IRG-4) collaborated to develop a growth process methodology for synthesis of reliable and reproducible large-area many-monolayer 1T'-WTe2 flakes.

Next-generation 'smart' nanoparticle systems should be precisely engineered in size, shape and composition to introduce multiple functionalities, unattainable from a single material. Bottom-up chemical methods are prized for the synthesis of crystalline nanoparticles, i.e., nanocrystals with size-and shape-dependent physical properties, but they are less successful in achieving multifunctionality. Top-down lithographic methods can produce multifunctional nanoparticles with precise size and shape control, yet this approach becomes increasingly difficult at sizes of order 10 nm.

Stable glasses produced by physical vapor deposition are important to understand. They exhibit optical birefringence, which traditionally implies that the constituent molecules are aligned.

Vesicle fusion and fission processes often occur in biological systems, usually with the aid of specialized proteins. Percec, Klein, Hammer, and Baumgart carried out comprehensive fusion/fission experiments based on three membrane ingredients: hydrogenated (RH), fluorinated (RF), and hybrid-hydrogenated/fluorinated (RHF) Janus dendrimers (Figure – Top Left).

Liquid crystals, fluids with aligned phases of rod-like constituent molecules, are used in everything from computer and television displays to mood rings. “Handedness” or chirality, is ubiquitous in complex biological systems and can be controlled and quantified in synthetic materials such as cholesteric liquid crystals.

Researchers explore approaches to increase the toughness of disordered materials that are otherwise prone to fail in a catastrophic, brittle fashion.

Students from Girard College and the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf participate in lab experiments, materials science lessons, and visits to various Penn facilities. The primary purpose of the program is to introduce URG students to STEM at an early age. 

At the University of Chicago MRSEC, we have shown that building blocks of the biopolymers, actin and microtubule, form lyotropic liquid crystals with controllable structure and mechanics.

The University of Chicago MRSEC has used super-conducting circuits and piezo-electricity to manipulate single phonons in a surface acoustic wave resonator (SAW).