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Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are efficient devices for producing electricity from a variety of gaseous fuels, including hydrogen, methane, and propane through a clean solid-state reaction.?е║ A typical SOFC consists of a porous nickel + yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) support layer and anode, YSZ electrolyte, and lanthanum strontium manganate (LSM) cathode.?е║ The efficiency of the SOFC depends in part on the morphology of the pore network, which serves as the conduit for fuel to reach the electrolyte and reaction products to escape, and the number of triple phase boundaries (TPBs) between pore, electrolyte, and anode phases.?е║ In particular, the tortuosity of the pore network limits transport and should be minimized while the number of TPBs should be maximized.?е║ Thermoreversible gelcasting (TRG) provides a convenient pathway to producing net-shaped, porous bodies such as SOFC supports.?е║ The pore networks of SOFC supports produced with this technique are evaluated using mercury intrusion porosimetry and X-ray computed tomography in order to optimize pore size and pore network morphology and tortuosity. Thermoelectric generators provide the ability to convert waste heat from industrial processes and transportation into electricity.?е║ Oxide-based thermoelectric generators have advantages over their more common metal counterparts due to their better temperature and environmental stability.?е║ Calcium cobaltite-based materials have high thermoelectric figures of merit at high temperatures.?е║ Using TRG, the material can be aligned in a chosen direction during component processing, producing anisotropic properties that improve the thermoelectric figure of merit in that direction.

Creating and studying new forms of quantum matter in atomically layered materials with particular focus on controlling electronic and excitonic phase transitions in such materials, and with potentially disruptive impact on energy and information technologies.

IRG2 represents an ambitious effort to understand, design, and synthesize materials containing distributed molecular elements that convert chemical energy into mechanical work.  Drawing on the myriad ways that biological systems have evolved to construct materials with specific responses to applied stimuli, this IRG aspires to achieve control of active materials and ultimately to create novel molecular assemblies for robust tunable shape change.  Success of this IRG would result in the identification of minimal combinations of elements capable of programmable amorphous shape changes, autonomous movement and collective behavior, and such a material could be tailored to environments and situations beyond the reach of biological systems.

This IRG focuses on both scientific challenges and technological opportunities that arise from controlling how much or how fast a soft interface forms or deforms, with systems ranging from nanoscale colloids to macroscopic field-activated suspensions.  By examining how stress variations at an interface can alter properties in the bulk and, conversely, how tailoring bulk paprameters can guide the interface dynamics, the research endeavors to establish the link between interface dynamics and the properties of the material as a whole.  Establishing such a link will open up opportunities for designing specific material responses and will provide a pathway towards innovative applications. 

The goal of this IRG is to use droplet-based microfluidics to fabricate new materials ranging from designer emulsions, to particle-based materials precisely constructed within droplets, to droplets with precisely tuned internal properties and shapes, to new methodologies for creating tailored fiber-based materials.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Purdue University focuses on heterostructure materials for electronic and photonic applications. The purpose of the Center is to develop enabling technologies in these areas of research with the long-term goal of facilitating the commercialization of new products using these technologies. The MRSEC is organized through two interdisciplinary research groups. The semiconductor misfit heterostructures group addresses problems associated with the development of semiconductor device technology using non-lattice-matched materials. The long term goal is to produce economically viable enabling technologies for fabricating photonic and electronic devices using unexplored semiconductor materials grown on non- lattice-matched substrates with optical and electrical properties matched to specific applications. The extrinsic control of heterostructure properties group focuses on important materials problems associated with light emitting and detecting devices fabricated from high-band gap semiconductors with composite semiconductor materials used for electronic, photonic and optoelectronic applications (especially nonlinear applications). The MRSEC supports programs for educational outreach and human resource development based on existing Purdue University efforts. Special focus is on the enhancement of programs for minority and women students. The MRSEC supports shared experimental facilities for the preparation, fabrication and characterization of heterostructure materials and devices. The center currently supports 10 senior investigators, 2 postdoctoral research associates, 1 technical staff member, 8 graduate students, and 10 undergraduates. The MRSEC is directed by Professor Jerry Woodall

The University of Washington Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C) is forging new materials-research frontiers through team-based development of novel electronic and photonic materials relevant to future high-tech applications. Encompassing innovations in synthesis, characterization, theory, and application, the MRSEC integrates campus student, faculty, facility, and research, both programmatically and physically. A competitive seed program funds high-risk high-reward projects in emerging areas, expanding the MRSEC's impact.

While developing the materials underpinnings of future advanced technologies, MEM-C provides advanced interdisciplinary education, training, diversity and outreach experience, and mentorship to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from all corners of campus and the Puget Sound region that provide them valuable research experiences and prepare them for future STEM careers.

MEM-C's integrated community activities emphasize aggressive STEM diversification and community involvement through two signature programs: promotion of (re)entry of veterans into STEM career tracks, and early recruitment/mentorship of students to STEM from underrepresented/underserved regional high schools.

Additional activities include REU/RET programs, regional K-20 outreach, regional partnerships (e.g., Pacific Science Center) for public engagement, and interdisciplinary curriculum development.

The University of Nebraska MRSEC “Polarization and Spin Phenomena in Nanoferroic Structures” (P-SPINS) carries out collaborative research on new magnetic materials and structures at the nanometer scale, with the aim of developing fundamental understanding of their properties and related phenomena. Recent pioneering discoveries by the UNL MRSEC researchers have broadened the Center’s scope and positioned its investigators to build the sustainable potential for exploring new frontiers in materials and nanoscience well into the future. A particular emphasis is made on studies of new ferroic materials and structures aimed at developing the fundamental understanding of their properties and related phenomena important for information processing and storage, energy harvesting, and advanced electronics. P-SPINS relies on interdisciplinary collaborations, extensive use of shared facilities, partnerships with national laboratories and international institutions and interactions with industrial companies to leverage the expected scientific innovations for potential technological advances.

As an integral part of the Center, P-SPINS offers interdisciplinary training for the next generation of materials scientists and engineers by providing regional four-year institutions experience and tools to improve their materials science programs and curricula, offering opportunities for middle- and high-school teachers and their students to learn about materials science, and by addressing pre-college segments of the educational pipeline via targeted outreach activities.

The Seed 1 group seeks to fully develop the synthesis of linear, random poly(ethylene-co-X) materials possessing, for instance, ester, acid, or anhydride functionality directly from industrial monomers using a robust family of transition metal catalysts discovered by us. The self-assembly of the resulting amphiphilic macromolecules can be driven by crystallization of hydrophobic polyolefin domains, in both bulk and solution, leading to nanostructured morphologies distinct from those driven by interblock repulsion, and the scalable routes we will develop to substantial quantities of these amphiphilic materials will facilitate detailed exploration of this self-assembly behavior.  

Principal Investigators
Brad Carrow (Chemistry)
Richard Register (Chemical and Biological Engineering)

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