Advancements in the understanding and synthesis of transition metal compounds have allowed materials engineers to design functional materials with a range of properties, such as ferroelectricity, non-linear optical activity, colossal magnetoresistance, and superconductivity. Conventional routes to tune and design functional materials includes chemical cation substitution and heterostructuring of oxide thin...
There is no group of materials as diverse, complex, and ubiquitous as polymers. From plastic bags, to rubber tires, electronics, food packaging, water filtration and even aerospace applications, the penetration of polymer materials into all aspects of life make them very important materials throughout all engineering fields. However, this breadth...
Non-planar and curved architectures of otherwise flat 2D materials present an important paradigm for nanoscale analysis and design of emergent material properties. Atomically-thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged at the forefront of the 2D materials field in recent years largely due to their attractive and tunable chemical, optical, and...
Melanin is a functional biopolymer most commonly associated with human skin pigmentation, where it serves as a radiation protection agent, shielding us from the harmful effects of UV radiation. However, melanin is also present in human ears, eyes, hair, and brains, serving a variety of functions. In fact, melanin...
The era of quantum information science (QIS) can usher revolutionary new capabilities ranging from quantum computation to quantum sensing. At the core of these technologies is the fundamental unit of QIS, the quantum bit or qubit. The power of qubits over their classical counterparts lies in their ability to be...
Surface patterns that can reconfigure under external stimuli are important for tailoring diverse properties such as surface adhesion, optical transmittance, and wettability depending on the feature size and orientation. Wrinkling a stiff skin layer on a pre-strained elastomer substrate has emerged as a method to create responsive structures without using...
Advanced wireless soft electronics integrate a wireless power transfer circuit and a small battery. It is skin-compliant, and lightweight accommodating the complex motion of the body. These unique features of the device provide a continuous physiological measurement without discomfort and spatial constraints. Using the device, we can observe and track...
Thermoelectric materials are of particular interest in a variety of fields because of their ability to directly convert heat to electricity (and vice versa), however, they struggle to gain widespread adoption because of their low efficiency. A common strategy in the field of thermoelectricity is to introduce material defects into...
High performance polymers and their composites have wide ranging application in advanced and emerging material systems. The macroscale performance of these advanced materials is often defined by interfaces that induce nanoscale changes in the microstructure or molecular conformations (termed the ‘interphase’) of the polymer. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an...
Structural colors originate from the interaction between the incident light and a surface with periodic submicron structures. They enable the creation of a spectrum of nonfading colors, potentially replacing toxic metal oxides and conjugated organic pigments. However, significant challenges remain, including lack of contrast needed for the complete gamut of...