Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills
Understanding the mechanisms behind quill penetration and extraction could help engineers design better medical devices.
Building a better world
From fuel cells to bamboo, and from Tanzania to Brazil, MIT senior Arfa Aijazi crosses borders and disciplines to make an impact.
How ‘transparent’ is graphene?
MIT researchers find that adding a coating of graphene has little effect on how a surface interacts with liquids — except in extreme cases.
Varanasi selected as outstanding young manufacturing engineer by SME
MIT professor of mechanical engineering is one of just seven recipients of the award this year.
The music of the silks
Researchers synthesize a new kind of silk fiber — and find that music can help fine-tune the material’s properties.
Funneling the sun’s energy
MIT engineers propose a new way of harnessing photons for electricity, with the potential for capturing a wider spectrum of solar energy.
The mysteries in materials
MIT senior Shannon Taylor researches 500-year-old artifacts and art to understand and restore materials.
Drawing a line, with carbon nanotubes
New low-cost, durable carbon nanotube sensors can be etched with mechanical pencils.
One-molecule-thick material has big advantages
MIT researchers produce complex electronic circuits from molybdenum disulfide, a material that could have many more applications.
Graphene’s behavior depends on where it sits
New findings show that the material beneath the thin carbon sheets determines how they react chemically and electrically.
Dripping faucets inspire new way of creating structured particles
Researchers find new method for making spherical particles, from nanoscale to pinhead-sized — including complex beach-ball-like shapes.
A new approach to water desalination
Graphene sheets with precisely controlled pores have potential to purify water more efficiently than existing methods.
All-carbon solar cell harnesses infrared light
New type of photovoltaic device harnesses heat radiation that most solar cells ignore.
In search of new ways of producing nano-materials
Jing Kong’s research focuses on how to make and control novel forms of thin-film carbon.
New material shares many of graphene’s unusual properties
Thin films of bismuth-antimony have potential for new semiconductor chips, thermoelectric devices.