Materials Science and Engineering

Researcher displays a sample of the record-setting new solar cell on the MIT campus.

Improving a new breed of solar cells

Quantum-dot photovoltaics set new record for efficiency in such devices, could unlock new uses.

May 27, 2014

The internal molecular structure of the electrode compound reveals what the researchers call the "superstructure." At right is a scanning transmission electron microscope image of the material, and, at left, the image is color-coded based on electrical properties: Each green dot stands for a stripe of manganese plus-4 ions; purple dots, for manganese plus-3 ions; and mixed color dots (green inside...

Team visualizes complex electronic state

Multidisciplinary group solves mystery of how a potential battery electrode material behaves.

May 18, 2014

NIST awards $539,990 grant to photonics consortium

MIT Microphotonics Center joins iNEMI for 19-month project to develop technology road map.

May 12, 2014

Antoine Allanore, the Thomas B. King Assistant Professor of Metallurgy at MIT

Reinventing copper extraction with electricity

Antoine Allanore is developing molten copper sulfide electrolysis to improve purity and drastically reduce pollutants.

May 1, 2014

The device can also be created as a suspension of microparticles that are injected into the body, where they clump together. In this image, the particles are suspended in saline before injection.

Tracking oxygen in the body

MRI sensor that enables long-term monitoring of oxygen levels could aid cancer diagnosis and treatment.

April 21, 2014

A powerful arc lamp is used to simulate sunlight on a sample of photoswitchable molecules, driving structural changes at the molecular level. A portion of the light's energy is stored with each structural change. The progress of these changes can be tracked by monitoring the molecules' optical properties.

A molecular approach to solar power

Switchable material could harness the power of the sun — even when it’s not shining.

April 13, 2014

High pure white potash awaits packaging and sale for use in soluble fertilizer and in industrial markets. Potash can be used as a replacement for potassium fertilizers for bananas and other agricultural products.

A new source for potassium fertilizer

Allanore lab chemically alters feldspar, an ore closer to home for countries that cultivate bananas and other potassium-dependent crops

April 8, 2014

Faculty highlight: Antoine Allanore

Globally important, chemically distinct lines of research promise easier access to potassium fertilizer, cleaner and purer metals.

April 2, 2014

In this illustration, the background shows a perovskite oxide structure, an example of the kinds of oxides Bilge Yildiz studies. By straining this material (as illustrated in the right-hand foreground image), the energy barrier to surface reactions is reduced. These energy barriers are shown by the three-dimensional graphs in the foreground images.

Strain can alter materials’ properties

New field of "strain engineering" could open up areas of materials research with many potential applications.

April 2, 2014

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image shows region surrounding an indentation the MIT researchers made in a piece of shell from Placuna placenta. The image shows the localization of damage to the area immediately surrounding the stress.

Tough as nails, yet clear enough to read through

MIT researchers uncover the secrets behind a marine creature’s defensive armor — one that is exceptionally tough, yet optically clear.

March 30, 2014

Seeing beauty in a materials science world

Marshall Scholar Colleen Loynachan tackles materials science problems with a photographer’s perspective.

January 15, 2014

How the immune system fights off malaria

Study reveals immune cells that are critical to combating the parasite in early stages of infection.

January 13, 2014

Lambda Project Lab Manager Jill Sewell (far right) with students (from left) Andrew James, Kenny Li, Alexa Beatrice, and Noah Gopen in the spectroscopy lab at MIT.

Introducing high school students to laser spectroscopy

Jill Sewell shepherds the Lambda Project in Professor Keith A. Nelson's lab.

January 10, 2014

Conventional layered lithium and transition metal cathode material (top) and the new disordered material studied by researchers at MIT (bottom) as seen through a scanning transmission electron microscope. Inset images show diagrams of the different structures in these materials. (In the disordered material, the blue lines show the pathways that allow lithium ions to traverse the material.)

Disordered materials hold promise for better batteries

MIT researchers find that contrary to conventional wisdom, cathodes made of disordered lithium compounds can perform better than perfectly ordered ones.

January 9, 2014

Alexei A. Maznev (left) and Jeffrey K. Eliason with time-resolved optical spectroscopy used to demonstrate ballistic acoustic phonon transport in silicon.

A collaborative effort breaks Fourier's law

MIT researchers find that Fourier's law of heat conduction breaks down at lengths much longer than previously thought.