Materials science

Researchers make carbon nanotubes without metal catalyst

Oxides, as well as metals, seem to be able to sprout carbon nanotubes, study finds

August 10, 2009

The image at top depicts a healthy collagen fibril. The image below it depicts a fibril with brittle bone disease displaying the small rifts (in orange) that form in collagen tissue at the sites where an incorrect amino acid has been substituted for glycine. These tiny rifts lead to the brittle tissue, broken bones and deformity characteristic of the disease.

Tiny rifts create fragility of brittle bone disease

August 4, 2009

Professor Elazer Edelman, Natalie Artzi, Aaron Baker and Adriana Bon in the lab with a surgical adhesive they have developed.

MIT team aims to tailor surgical glues for specific applications

Researchers look to match material to tissue properties

July 9, 2009

A Micrograph showing the cross-section of a new optoelectronic fiber.

A fabric with vision

Researchers create flexible lensless camera from web of light-detecting fibers

July 8, 2009

A new approach to engineering for extreme environments

Scientist creates model to design radiation-resistant materials

June 24, 2009

Department of Materials Science and Engineering awards

June 3, 2009

School of Engineering awards

June 3, 2009

MIT materials scientist Christopher Schuh stands next to a truck bumper coated with a new nickel-tungsten alloy that could replace chrome plating.

Finishing touches: New alloys offer alternative to chrome

May 19, 2009

Students from Professor of Archeology and Ancient Technology Dorothy Hosler's class work on making the full-size authentic replica of a pre-Columbian South American balsa oceangoing raft on the Charles river. Here Leslie Dewan and Feng Wu work.

Ancient trading raft sails anew

Faithful copy of pre-Columbian vessel tested on Charles

May 12, 2009

Recent PhD recipient Christophoros Vassiliou, right, holds the cancer monitoring device that he and Professor Michael Cima, left, and recent PhD recipient Grace Kim developed.

Implantable device offers continuous cancer monitoring

New device could track tumor's growth

May 12, 2009

MIT and Cambridge University scientists developed this tissue scaffold that could help repair knees and other joints. The top section, indicated by the green arrow, stimulates bone growth, while the lower half, marked by the orange arrow, stimulates cartilage growth.

New tissue scaffold regrows cartilage and bone

Work could help heal sports injuries, arthritis

May 11, 2009

One project that received MITEI seed funds involves developing remote-controlled robots that can walk along deep-sea oil pipes and drilling facilities, performing critical inspection and maintenance tasks. Key to the design is a foot inspired by that of the gecko, which can stick to and traverse all kinds of surfaces. The project builds on previous work in which the researchers developed "Stickybo...

MITEI awards third round of seed grants

May 5, 2009

Spinning at the nanoscale

Electrospun fibers could be used for protective clothing, wearable power and more

May 5, 2009

The crystallographic structure of a sheet of graphene is revealed in this Atomic Force Microscope picture.

A material for all seasons

MIT teams finding many uses for graphene, the newest form of carbon

May 4, 2009

MIT researchers used these gold nanorods that absorb energy from near-infrared light and emit it as heat, destroying cancer cells.

Targeting tumors using tiny gold particles

Gold nanorods could detect, treat cancer