Materials science and engineering

Polina Anikeeva, the Class of 1942 Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, is training for her third Boston Marathon. She has participated in others around the country, including at Disney World in Orlando. She ran that marathon as Tinkerbell.

The sanity of the long-distance runner

Associate Professor Polina Anikeeva, in preparing for the Boston Marathon, shares her love of running.

April 13, 2017

Researchers may have determined why fairly brittle electrode materials in batteries don’t crack under the strain of expansion and contraction cycles when they are used and recharged.

How some battery materials expand without cracking

Brittle electrodes handle expansion by going glassy, study shows.

April 12, 2017

Researchers have found a way to make tiny particles that can be injected into the body, where they emit short-wave infrared light. The advance may open up a new way of making detailed images of internal body structures such as fine networks of blood vessels.

Nanoparticles open new window for biological imaging

“Quantum dots” that emit infrared light enable highly detailed images of internal body structures.

April 10, 2017

Tata Center students and staff pose with Ratan Tata (center-right), chair of the Tata Trusts.

Tata Center adds 14 new projects to its portfolio for 2017-18

MIT principal investigators will apply cutting-edge research to the challenges of the developing world, seeking a large-scale impact.

April 7, 2017

As part of a $35 million materials science discovery program, The Toyota Research Institute will support three MIT-affiliated projects directed at advancing technologies that underpin the future of mobility and autonomous systems and energy storage, such as rechargeable batteries used in hybrid and electric cars.

Multi-university effort will advance materials, define the future of mobility

With support from the Toyota Research Institute, MIT faculty will focus on next-generation energy storage.

April 3, 2017

Researchers at MIT have found a way to make graphene with fewer wrinkles, and to iron out the wrinkles that do appear. They found each wafer exhibited uniform performance, meaning that electrons flowed freely across each wafer, at similar speeds, even across previously wrinkled regions.

Researchers “iron out” graphene’s wrinkles

New technique produces highly conductive graphene wafers.

April 3, 2017

Researchers have developed a rubber-like fiber, shown here, that can flex and stretch while simultaneously delivering both optical impulses, for optoelectronic stimulation, and electrical connections, for stimulation and monitoring.

Stretching the boundaries of neural implants

Rubbery, multifunctional fibers could be used to study spinal cord neurons and potentially restore function.

March 31, 2017

These scanning electron microscope images show the sequence of fabrication of fine lines by the team's new method. First, an array of lines is produced by a conventional electron beam process (top). The addition of a block copolymer material and a topcoat result in a quadrupling of the number of lines (center). Then the topcoat is etched away, leaving the new pattern of fine lines exposed (bottom)...

A big leap toward tinier lines

Self-assembly technique could lead to long-awaited, simple method for making smaller microchip patterns.

March 27, 2017

Thirty-three students presented their research at the 2017 Nuclear Science and Engineering Graduate student Expo on March 17.

A showcase of nuclear science and engineering at MIT

Nuclear Science and Engineering Expo provides an opportunity for prospective grad students and the MIT community to learn about department research.

March 24, 2017

MIT aerospace researchers have demonstrated that some randomness in the arrangement of carbon atoms makes materials that are lighter and stronger, shown at lower right in illustration, compared to a more densely packed and tightly ordered structure, shown lower left. They formed a type of disordered graphite-like carbon material that is often called glassy carbon by “baking” a phenol-formadehy...

Disorder can be good

Researchers discover that chaos makes carbon materials lighter and stronger.

March 17, 2017

MIT graduate programs earn top marks from US News

Graduate engineering and economics programs are No. 1 in the nation; MIT Sloan is No. 4.

March 14, 2017

Researchers have developed a type of steel with three characteristics that help it resist microcracks that lead to fatigue failure: a layered nanostructure, a mixture of microstructural phases with different degrees of hardness, and a metastable composition. They compared samples of metal with just one or two of these key attributes (top left, top right, and bottom left) and with all three (bottom...

Conquering metal fatigue

Novel laminated nanostructure gives steel bone-like resistance to fracturing under repeated stress.

March 9, 2017

Researchers at MIT have discovered new way of using laser light to tune electronic energy levels in two-dimensional films of crystal. The discovery could ultimately pave the way for the development of so-called “valleytronic” devices, which harness the way electrons gather around two equal energy states, known as valleys.

Toward “valleytronic” devices for data storage or computer logic systems

Researchers have discovered a new way to tune electronic energy levels in some 2-D materials.

March 9, 2017

Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering ‪Yet-Ming Chiang (left), is working with MIT senior Harry Thaman (center) and postdoc Linsen Li to study a new kind of electrolyte for “self-healing” lithium battery cells, which will be formed by adding a halide element such as iodine.

Iodine may protect batteries

MIT, Carnegie Mellon researchers explore “self-healing” batteries with new metal-halide solid electrolyte material.

March 8, 2017

MIT rates No. 1 in 12 subjects in 2017 QS World University Rankings

MIT ranked within the top 5 for 19 of 46 subject areas.