Materials science and engineering

MIT researchers have found that interactions between electrons and heat-carrying particles called phonons can play a significant role in preventing heat dissipation in microelectronic devices.

Electron-phonon interactions affect heat dissipation in computer chips

Study shows particle collisions may explain overheated circuits, improve thermoelectric devices.

October 12, 2016

To demonstrate Foundry, MIT researchers designed and fabricated skis with retro-reflective surfaces, a ping-pong paddle, a helmet, and even a bone that may someday be used for surgical planning.

Designing for 3-D printing

“Foundry” tool from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab lets you design a wide range of multi-material 3-D-printed objects.

October 11, 2016

To demonstrate the supercapacitor's ability to store power, the researchers modified an off-the-shelf hand-crank flashlight (the red parts at each side) by cutting it in half and installing a small supercapacitor in the center, in a conventional button battery case, seen at top. When the crank is turned to provide power to the flashlight, the light continues to glow long after the cranking stops, ...

New kind of supercapacitor made without carbon

Energy storage device could deliver more power than current versions of this technology.

October 10, 2016

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and MIT President L. Rafael Reif discuss innovation and entrepreneurship at an event hosted by the MIT Innovation Initiative.

Advancing manufacturing innovation on campus and online

The White House highlights MIT’s latest efforts as part of National Manufacturing Day.

October 7, 2016

Jessika Trancik, associate professor of energy studies at MIT, will present at the annual Materials Day Symposium.

Batteries power clean energy transformation

Materials Day Symposium will highlight strong potential to cut greenhouse gases with electric cars, solar and wind energy storage.

October 6, 2016

“We are particularly interested in wetsuits for surfing, where the athlete moves frequently between air and water environments,” says Anette (Peko) Hosoi, a professor of mechanical engineering and associate head of the department at MIT. “We can control the length, spacing, and arrangement of hairs, which allows us to design textures to match certain dive speeds and maximize the wetsuit's dr...

Beaver-inspired wetsuits in the works

Rubbery hair-lined wetsuits may help keep surfers warm.

October 5, 2016

These images, taken from a transmission electron microscope, show a perovskite material oscillating as it is exposed to water vapor and a beam of electrons.

Water vapor sets some oxides aflutter

Newly discovered phenomenon could affect materials in batteries and water-splitting devices.

October 3, 2016

Improving microparticle arrays for engineering applications: A new technique using tiny microwells pushes the precision and scalability of microparticle arrays to a new extreme. The assembly includes empty porous microwell arrays (top left) and unassembled microparticles (top middle). A close view of the microparticles in arrays appears at top right, and a wide view of the assembly appears below.

A better way to assay

New design of large-scale microparticle arrays can make materials science and bioengineering applications more scalable, precise, and versatile.

September 30, 2016

Nanosensors could help determine tumors’ ability to remodel tissue

Measuring enzyme levels could help doctors select appropriate treatments.

September 29, 2016

This computational illustration shows a graphene network structure below a layer of water.

How to power up graphene implants without frying cells

New analysis finds way to safely conduct heat from graphene to biological tissues.

September 23, 2016

Left to right: MIT Professor Franz-Josef Ulm, Aix-Marseille University President Yvon Berland, MIT President L. Rafael Reif, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) President Alain Fuchs, and CNRS research director and MIT senior research scientist Roland Pellenq at a signing ceremony extending a partnership behind MultiScale Material Science for Energy and Environment (MSE2), which ...

MIT and French research institutions collaborate on climate-conscious materials

MultiScale Material Science for Energy and Environment research partnership could reduce the carbon footprint of materials such as concrete.

September 12, 2016

Summer Scholar Justin Cheng holds an experimental sample of nanostructured gold on silicon that has potential for use in sensors and display technologies based on its selective light absorption properties.

Tiny gold grids yielding secrets

Summer Scholar Justin Cheng explores process in Berggren group for making ordered metal nanostructures that display interesting new properties.

September 7, 2016

QS ranks MIT the world’s top university for 2016-17

Ranked No. 1 for the fifth straight year, the Institute also places first in 12 of 42 disciplines.

September 5, 2016

MPC-CMSE Summer Scholar Victoria Yao shows a mixture of sodium thiosulfate being stirred in a solution of copper hexacyanoferrate where its reacts to produce larger compounds that can be filtered out of the solution. These compounds are being developed for use in electrodes for a water-based flow-driven battery for grid level storage.

Designing safe, cheap batteries for grid level storage

Summer Scholar Victoria Yao experiments with water-based, flow-driven battery concept in Brushett Lab.

September 1, 2016

At right, scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show the two types of lithium deposits, the bulky, mossy type (at top), which grows from its base, and the needle-like dendritic type (bottom), which grows from the tips. At left, SEM images show the effect of a blocking layer of ceramic material that limits the growth of the mossy deposits.

In batteries, a metal reveals its dual personality

Branchlike deposits grow on lithium electrode surfaces in two ways, one much more damaging.