The power of hidden patterns
Interfaces within materials can be patterned as a means of controlling the properties of composites.
Designing better surfaces for energy
Bilge Yildiz explores the dynamics of surfaces to design more resilient materials for applications in high-intensity environments.
Teaching light new tricks
Graduate student Wade Hsu and colleagues confine light to a crystal surface and design a transparent display using nanoparticles.
A mirror with a peephole
MIT graduate student Yichen Shen designs a photonic crystal system that lets light pass through at a specific angle.
Running on waste heat
Gang Chen’s thermoelectric devices turn waste heat into electricity for vehicles and other machines.
New material structures bend like microscopic hair
Researchers say structures may be used in windows to wick away moisture.
Following biological clues to better materials
Brad Olsen creates bioinspired and biofunctional materials for widely diverse applications.
Building up bamboo
MIT researchers study bamboo for engineered building material, similar to plywood.
Overcoming imperfections
By looking to nature, PhD student Leon Dimas 3-D prints materials that resist flaws and fractures.
Morphable surfaces could cut air resistance
Adding golf ball-like dimples to surfaces could reduce drag and improve efficiency of vehicles.
New ultrastiff, ultralight material developed
Nanostructured material based on repeating microscopic units has record-breaking stiffness at low density.
How cormorants emerge dry after deep dives
Study reveals how shape and chemistry let feathers shed water after emerging from great depths.
New material for flat semiconductors
Researchers find a two-dimensional, self-assembling material that might produce solar cells or transistors.