MRS Bulletin Materials News Podcast
111 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsMaterials News podcast by MRS Bulletin provides breakthrough news & interviews with researchers on hot topics including biomaterials, quantum materials, artificial intelligence, sustainability, perovskites, and robotics. Produced by the Materials Research Society.
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Episodes
Episode 15: Torsional force microscopy reveals the moiré superlattices
June 25, 2024 19:00 - 4 minutes - 3.49 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Mihir Pendharkar of Stanford University about characterizing electronic properties of twistronics materials. Twistronics refers to a type of electronic device consisting of two-dimensional materials layered at a relative twist angle, forming a new periodic structure known as moiré superlattices. Pendharkar and colleagues studied different configurations of graphene layered with hexagonal boron nitride. Determining the twist angle...
Episode 14: Mixed-method approach characterizes nanovoids in polymer films
June 18, 2024 14:00 - 5 minutes - 4.15 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Falon Kalutantirige from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Ying Li from the University of Wisconsin-Madison about their approach and discovery when characterizing nanovoids in polymer films. Using polyamide (PA) membranes as their subject of study, the researchers applied graph theory combined with electron tomography and molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the morphology of the nanovoids. The key to under...
Episode 13: Computational model shows 3D metamaterial that exhibits magnetoelectric effect
June 13, 2024 13:00 - 5 minutes - 4.03 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Alexandre Dmitriev from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden about his group’s computational model of a three-dimensional metamaterial exhibiting a magnetoelectric effect—known as the Tellegen effect—when exposed to light. The building blocks of the metamaterial are comprised of disks of silicon, 150 nm in diameter, supporting a cylinder of cobalt. Silicon is chosen for its high refractive index and cobalt for its magnetic propert...
Episode 12: New paradigm established for additive manufacturing in field of bioelectronics
April 20, 2024 15:00 - 4 minutes - 3.43 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Antonio Dominguez-Alfaro from the University of Cambridge, UK about the development of a single-step manufacturing approach for a multimaterial 3D-printing method. The research team created two inks. One ink is a polymeric deep eutectic solvent – polyDES – made by combining and heating two salts to form a deep eutectic monomer and adding a photo-initiator to allow the ink to be cured. This ink is an ionic conductor so can capture ...
Episode 11: Chemomechanical approach to surface modification attains high single-photon purity
April 09, 2024 12:00 - 6 minutes - 4.43 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Elizabeth Wilson interviews postdoctoral researcher M. Iqbal Bakti Utama of Northwestern University about a method allowing single photon production without defect. Aryl diazonium chemistry has been used in the past to functionalize the surface of carbon nanotubes. Utama’s group found that this chemistry also works for tungsten diselenide surfaces. The group immersed tungsten diselenide monolayers into an aqueous solution of 4-nitrobenzene-diazonium te...
Episode 10: Achiral liquid crystal breaks mirror symmetry
April 04, 2024 19:00 - 4 minutes - 3.11 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Irmgard Bischofberger of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about her investigation of how chirality emerges in nature. She uses liquid crystal molecules of disodium chromoglycate in her studies. When the molecules are dissolved in water, they form linear rods. The research group then forces the rods through a microfluidic cell, causing the rods to assemble into spiral structures without mirror symmetry. The achiral struct...
Episode 9: Nanocomposite-superlattice enables low energy, high stability phase-change memory device
March 26, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutes - 6.35 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Eric Pop, Xiangjin Wu, and Asir Intisar Khan from Stanford University about their work building a phase-change memory superlattice at the nanoscale. They created the superlattice by alternating layers of antimony-tellurium nanoclusters with a nanocomposite made from germanium, antimony, and tellurium (GST467). Each layer is ~2 nm thick and the superlattice consists of 15 periods of these alternating layers. The microstructural pro...
Episode 8: Switching mechanism revealed behind reversible molecular assembly in 2D materials
March 20, 2024 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.64 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Magalí Lingenfelder from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland about her group’s discovery of the switching mechanism behind H-bond-linked two-dimensional networks. The hydrogen bonding ability was tuned by comparing carboxylates to aldehydes. Lingenfelder’s group found that the ability of the structure to switch between an open structure to a close-packed one is governed by a synergistic combination of energet...
Episode 7: RoboMapper reduces environmental impact of data generation
March 11, 2024 16:00 - 7 minutes - 5.57 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Aram Amassian from North Carolina State University about his group’s achievements using RoboMapper, a materials acceleration platform. In researchers’ quest to run environmentally-conscious laboratories, Amassian offers a solution that focuses on characterization of materials. Having found that characterization generates a lot of energy, his group developed an automated approach to screening small samples in order to identify ones...
Episode 6: Superconductor robust against magnetic field
March 05, 2024 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.4 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Kaveh Ahadi from The Ohio State University about a material his group developed that maintains superconductivity in a magnetic field. The researchers grew a film of lanthanum manganite on a crystal of potassium tantalate. When lowered to the temperature of 2 Kelvin, the material is a superconductor. When Ahadi’s group applied 25 Teslas of magnetic field, the material stayed superconducting. Even though the material is not of prac...
Episode 5: Theoretical framework predicts real-world industrial catalytic conditions
February 27, 2024 16:00 - 6 minutes - 4.23 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Elizabeth Wilson interviews Manos Mavrikakis from the University of Wisconsin–Madison about his group’s theoretical work on real-world industrial catalytic conditions. It is often assumed that most catalyst surface atoms stay in place during a reaction, firmly bonded to their metal neighbors. However, Mavrikakis’s theoretical framework shows that under industrial reaction conditions, a surprising amount of metal–metal bond breaking is likely happening ...
Episode 4: Imaging device tracks and controls photocurrent streamlines in electronic devices
February 15, 2024 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.02 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Nathan Gabor from the University of California, Riverside about his group’s work on imaging and directing the flow of electrons in electronic devices. They designed their device by taking a crystal of yttrium iron garnet, which does not conduct electricity, and putting a nanometers-thick layer of platinum, which does conduct electricity, on top of it. When they illuminate the device with a laser, this device produces an electric ...
Episode 3: Quantum ruler measures orbital magnetism in moiré quantum matter
February 06, 2024 16:00 - 4 minutes - 2.93 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Rahul Rao interviews Fereshte Ghahari of George Mason University about the use of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to measure the electronic and magnetic properties of moiré quantum materials. Ghahari and collaborators twisted two layers of graphene at a specific angle, then chilled the material to suppress as much motion as possible. They ran an STM across the material while varying the magnetic field. They could precisely observe how those field...
Episode 2: Biocompatible piezoelectric materials promote neural regeneration
January 31, 2024 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.76 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Hamideh Khanbareh and Vlad Jarkov of the University of Bath in the UK about an application they introduced for using piezoelectric materials in tissue engineering. The researchers fabricated a composite by combining polydimethylsiloxane with a piezoelectric material of potassium-sodium-niobate that is compatible with cell lines similar to neurons. They then studied how the composite material would interact with neural stem cells. ...
Episode 1: Photochemistry combined with 3D printing generates complex ceramics structures
January 24, 2024 21:00 - 6 minutes - 4.45 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Professor Jerry Qi and postdoctoral researcher Mingzhe Li of the Georgia Institute of Technology about their new technique to 3D print silica glass. After using two-photon polymerization to cross-link poly-dimethylsiloxane, Qi’s research team used deep UV to convert the polymer into silica glass. The deep UV irradiation is carried out in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The UV light converts the oxygen to ozone, which then reacts with t...
Episode 16: Biosensor enables early detection of organ transplant failure
December 11, 2023 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.34 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Surabhi Madhvapathy of Northwestern University about an implantable bioelectronics system that can perform early detection of kidney transplant rejection in rats. Madhvapathy and her colleagues have developed a wireless sensor that attaches to the kidney itself. The biosensor measures the organ’s temperature and its thermal conductivity. These can point toward inflammation in the kidney, which can be a sign of organ rejection. Th...
Episode 15: Transonic dislocation propagation observed in diamond
December 11, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.58 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Kento Katagiri, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, about the propagation speed of dislocations in materials. Using an X-ray free electron laser to collect data from single-crystal diamond, Katagiri and colleagues have determined the velocity of wave propagation to be in the transonic region. Katagiri’s work is most applicable to extreme shock events such as missile strikes and shuttle launches where pressures of one te...
Episode 14: Liquid samples coated in gold nanorods enhance cellular characterization
September 18, 2023 11:00 - 7 minutes - 5.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Stanford University’s Jennifer Dionne and her PhD student Fareeha Safir and their colleague Amr. Saleh from Cairo University about their work on identifying bacteria in complex samples. Instead of culturing bacteria then identifying them using specific methods such as a polymerase chain reaction test, which takes hours, Dionne’s research group uses Raman spectroscopy combined with machine learning to detect the presence of two spe...
Episode 13: Bioprinting combined with interferometry enables precision oncology
September 11, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.72 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Alice Soragni of the University of California, Los Angeles about her work in precision oncology. Rather than sequence the DNA of a patient’s tumor, Soragni uses bioprinting to create organoids from the patient’s cells. She then adds various drugs to the cells to directly test their response to each drug. To check the effectiveness of the drugs, Soragni’s group measures the organoid’s mass with a technique called interferometry. I...
Episode 12: Hydrogel adsorbs more water at elevated temperature
September 05, 2023 14:00 - 3 minutes - 2.6 MBWhile thermodynamics suggests that water sorption is more favorable at a low temperature, MRS Bulletin podcaster Laura Leay interviews post-doctoral researcher Xinyue Liu from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who reports a hydrogel that can adsorb more water at elevated temperatures. Liu and the research team from MIT and the University of Michigan were searching for a way to harvest water from the air without using a lot of energy. They want to tackle the problem of water sca...
Episode 11: Introduction of hydrogen produces eco-friendly thermoelectric oxides
August 14, 2023 14:00 - 3 minutes - 2.28 MBMany industrial processes require heat or create it as a by-product. Now, Takayoshi Katase from the Tokyo Institute of Technology has found a way to harness this heat in an eco-friendly way, as he explains in an interview with MRS Bulletin podcaster Laura Leay. One way to harness this heat is to use thermoelectric devices to produce electricity via the Seebeck effect. Conventional thermoelectric materials, however, are composed of heavy metals such as lead and tellurium, which are toxic. To ...
Episode 10: Photonic time crystal amplifies electromagnetic signal
August 08, 2023 18:00 - 4 minutes - 3.04 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Xuchen Wang of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany about his work on photonic time crystals. While conventional crystals are composed of repeating unit cells in space, such as eight carbon atoms arranged in a cube to form a diamond, a photonic time crystal has a structure that repeats in time. Theoretical predictions of photonic time crystals referred to designs consisting of three-dimensional metamaterials whose propert...
Episode 9: Magnetic properties tunable in high-entropy oxides
August 01, 2023 10:00 - 4 minutes - 2.88 MBLittle research has been done on the magnetic properties of high-entropy oxides, a challenge taken up by Alannah Hallas at the University of British Columbia in Canada, interviewed by MRS Bulletin podcaster Laura Leay. Hallas’s research group began by choosing five elements that would be magnetic and combining them in oxide form, rendering a spinel structure for further experimentation. To understand how progressive substitution of the magnetic metal cations with non-magnetic gallium would a...
Episode 8: Knots tied within microstructure of foam
July 17, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 3.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Widi Moestopo, a former graduate student in Julia Greer’s laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and now a postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about their work incorporating microknots in architected materials. Using two-photon lithography, Moestopo scans a resin with a laser to create and shape a three-dimensional (3D) object within foam. Moestopo then used a solvent to wash away the remaini...
Knots tied within microstructure of foam
July 17, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 3.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Widi Moestopo, a former graduate student in Julia Greer’s laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and now a postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about their work incorporating microknots in architected materials. Using two-photon lithography, Moestopo scans a resin with a laser to create and shape a three-dimensional (3D) object within foam. Moestopo then used a solvent to wash away the remaini...
Nanotwinned copper foil enables “zero excess” Li-metal batteries
July 11, 2023 15:00 - 4 minutes - 2.88 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Dominic Bresser from the Helmholtz Institute Ulm and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany about the suitability of a nanotwinned copper foil as a current collector for the negative electrode in“zero excess” lithium−metal batteries. The nanotwinned copper foil has an essentially pure, single orientation and dense twin boundaries. Bresser’s research group found that lithium deposits more densely and much more homogenousl...
Episode 7: Nanotwinned copper foil enables “zero excess” Li-metal batteries
July 11, 2023 15:00 - 4 minutes - 2.88 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Dominic Bresser from the Helmholtz Institute Ulm and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany about the suitability of a nanotwinned copper foil as a current collector for the negative electrode in“zero excess” lithium−metal batteries. The nanotwinned copper foil has an essentially pure, single orientation and dense twin boundaries. Bresser’s research group found that lithium deposits more densely and much more homogenousl...
Electromagnetic induction enables micro-robots to better mimic biological organisms
June 05, 2023 13:00 - 3 minutes - 2.24 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Carmel Majidi from Carnegie Mellon University about an adaptive-responsive soft micro-robot. The key is eliciting a liquid–solid phase transition through electromagnetic induction. In addition to using the magnetic field to induce the phase change, it can also be used to make the machine move. A soft, low-rigidity body is vital for adapting a miniature machine to a variety of applications or a changing environment. This work was p...
Episode 6: Electromagnetic induction enables micro-robots to better mimic biological organisms
June 05, 2023 13:00 - 3 minutes - 2.24 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Carmel Majidi from Carnegie Mellon University about an adaptive-responsive soft micro-robot. The key is eliciting a liquid–solid phase transition through electromagnetic induction. In addition to using the magnetic field to induce the phase change, it can also be used to make the machine move. A soft, low-rigidity body is vital for adapting a miniature machine to a variety of applications or a changing environment. This work was p...
Episode 5: Inkjet-printed material tailored for biocompatible wearable electronics
March 21, 2023 14:00 - 3 minutes - 2.81 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Prof. Esma Ismailova and graduate student Marina Galliani from Mines Saint-Etienne about their work toward creating biocompatible, eco-friendly materials for wearable electronics. For this particular project, they developed a conducting material based on a commercial polymer known as PEDOT-PSS, in a water-based solution. They combined it with various solvents to tune the electrical conductivity, which is dependent on the shape an...
Episode 4: Optical waveguide enables self-healing soft robotic system
March 21, 2023 13:00 - 4 minutes - 2.86 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Rob Shepherd from Cornell University about an adaptive-responsive self-healing soft robotic system. Shepherd’s research team has developed waveguides made of self-healing polyurethane urea crosslinked with aromatic sulfide bonds. When this material is cut, relatively weak hydrogen bonds quickly form. Disulfide exchange then occurs and, although this takes longer than the formation of hydrogen bonds, results in much stronger bondin...
Episode 3: Gold nanoparticles self-assemble into pinwheel superlattices
February 06, 2023 14:00 - 4 minutes - 3.03 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Jiahui Li, a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign about designing structures out of gold nanoparticles. When the nanoparticle structure takes the shape of a pinwheel, different types of light interact with the structure differently due to its chirality. Different wavelengths might be transmitted depending on whether the light’s polarization is rotating clockwise or counterclockwise, which could make thi...
Episode 2: Software developed for 3D imaging using electron microscope
February 01, 2023 12:00 - 3 minutes - 2.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Robert Hovden from the University of Michigan and his graduate student Jonathan Schwartz on development of the freely available tomviz platform (tomviz.org) that enables real-time three-dimensional (3D) visual analysis of materials. Building on the already existing tomviz platform, Schwartz created new algorithms capable of pulling data from transmission and scanning electron microscopes, evolving the 3D image as the experiment pr...
Episode 2: Real-time 3D imaging software for electron microscopy developed
February 01, 2023 12:00 - 3 minutes - 2.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Robert Hovden from the University of Michigan and his graduate student Jonathan Schwartz on development of the freely available Tomviz platform (tomviz.org) that enables real-time three-dimensional (3D) visual analysis of materials. Building on the already existing Tomviz platform, Schwartz created new algorithms capable of pulling data from transmission and scanning electron microscopes, evolving the 3D image as the experiment pr...
Episode 1: High-strength alloys created using thermally stable nanoparticles
January 18, 2023 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.03 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Tao Yang from the City University of Hong Kong in China who focuses on the innovative design of advanced structural materials. In the area of high-strength alloys, Yang’s research team looked specifically at how to stabilize nanoparticles at high temperatures. In an alloy of Ni59.9-xCoxFe13-Cr15Al6Ti6B0.1, Yang’s team achieved ultra-stable nanoparticles at 800–1000°C. They achieved this effect by tailoring the concentration of cob...
Episode 1: High strength alloys created using thermally stable nanoparticles
January 18, 2023 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.03 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Tao Yang from the City University of Hong Kong in China who focuses on the innovative design of advanced structural materials. In the area of high-strength alloys, Yang’s research team looked specifically at how to stabilize nanoparticles at high temperatures. In an alloy of Ni59.9-xCoxFe13-Cr15Al6Ti6B0.1, Yang’s team achieved ultra-stable nanoparticles at 800–1000°C. They achieved this effect by tailoring the concentration of cob...
Episode 21: Organic electrochemical transistor device assesses presence of antibodies
December 21, 2022 17:00 - 9 minutes - 6.41 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Stephen Riffle interviews Alessandra Scagliarini, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Bologna, and Beatrice Fraboni, a professor of physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Bologna, about their electrical transistor assay that quantifies SARS-CoV-2 for antibodies. The purpose is to determine vaccine efficacy over time. The device is built with the semiconducting material poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)...
Episode 20: Resistance of analog deep learning device responds in ~5 nanoseconds
November 02, 2022 13:00 - 5 minutes - 4.19 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Murat Onen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about analog deep learning that could help lower the cost of training artificial intelligence (AI). The programmable analog device stores information in the same place where the information is processed. The resistor’s main material is tungsten oxide, which can be reversibly doped with protons from an electrolyte material known as phosphosilicate ...
Episode 19: Controlling shape selection and nanostructure in chiral assemblies
October 26, 2022 21:00 - 6 minutes - 4.46 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Monica Olvera de la Cruz of Northwestern University and her colleagues who gained insight into biochirality. By analyzing self-assembly for a series of amphiphiles, Cn-K, consisting of an ionizable amino acid [lysine (K)] coupled to alkyl tails with n = 12, 14, or 16 carbons, the researchers found the degree of ionization is what controls the shape. They incorporate this phenomenon into a membrane energetics model. Furthermore, th...
Episode 18: Gear-based metamaterials supersede abilities of adaptive chemical or electro-responsive materials
September 30, 2022 13:00 - 3 minutes - 2.78 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Peter Gumbsch, who is affiliated with both the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials in Germany about gear-based mechanical metamaterials. The researchers offer a paradigm shift in design where—instead of choosing a material for a given application and compromising on materials properties—engineers can consider an adaptable metamaterial to build shape-morphing structures that can...
Episode 17: Magic angle enables magnetoelectric switching in multiferroic
September 30, 2022 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.44 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Sergey Artyukhin from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Louis Ponet, who is affiliated with both the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa about a topologically protected switching phenomena in ferroic materials. When a multiferroic crystal (GdMn2O5) is placed in a magnetic field at a very particular angle to a crystallographic axis, and the magnetic field is swept up and down twice, the system...
Episode 17: Magic angle enables magnetoelectric switching in multiferroic
September 30, 2022 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.44 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Sergey Artyukhin from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Louis Ponet, who is affiliated with both the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa about a topologically protected switching phenomena in ferroic materials. When a multiferroic crystal (GdMn2O5) is placed in a magnetic field at a very particular angle to a crystallographic axis, and the magnetic field is swept up and down twice, the system...
Episode 16: Ayse Turak on organic optoelectronics & diversity in the materials community
September 29, 2022 10:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBVictor A. Rodriguez-Toro, a researcher in materials and devices and a science correspondent for MRS Bulletin, interviews Ayse Turak, Associate Professor of Engineering Physics and Director of the Centre for Emerging Device Technologies at McMaster University in Canada, about her group’s research in organic optoelectronics. Turak focuses her research on developing easy, versatile, and inexpensive methods of exploring and tuning interfaces, particularly in organic, perovskite and nanoparticle ...
Episode 15: Cathodes with disordered structures enhance stability in Li-ion batteries
September 22, 2022 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.11 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Bin Ouyang of Florida State University about making a better cathode for lithium ion batteries. The current use of cobalt and nickel in their cathodes causes Li-ion batteries to contract in volume and degrade. Ouyang and his colleagues simulated and then fabricated new cathode materials that do not use cobalt or nickel and also degrade less after being charged and discharged. To achieve this, they found that they needed to design...
Episode 15: Cathodes with disordered structures enhance stability in Li-ion batteries
September 22, 2022 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.11 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Bin Ouyang of Florida State University about making a better cathode for lithium ion batteries. The current use of cobalt and nickel in their cathodes causes Li-ion batteries to contract in volume and degrade. Ouyang and his colleagues simulated and then fabricated new cathode materials that do not use cobalt or nickel and also degrade less after being charged and discharged. To achieve this, they found that they needed to design...
Episode 15: Cathodes with disordered structures enhance stability in Li-ion battery
September 22, 2022 13:00 - 4 minutes - 3.11 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Bin Ouyang of Florida State University about making a better cathode for lithium ion batteries. The current use of cobalt and nickel in their cathodes causes Li-ion batteries to contract in volume and degrade. Ouyang and his colleagues simulated and then fabricated new cathode materials that do not use cobalt or nickel and also degrade less after being charged and discharged. To achieve this, they found that they needed to design...
Episode 14: Cardiac tissue cellular alignment programmed via bioprinting
July 28, 2022 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.6 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews graduate student John Ahrens of Harvard University about challenges in bioprinting heart tissue. One challenge in particular is aligning the cells. Heart cells are narrow and rectangular in shape. In a natural heart, they line up in parallel to form aligned filaments. Those aligned filaments are built up into a larger tissue with more complex alignment. Cellular alignment correlates with heart function. The research team has prog...
Episode 13: Control of colloidal shapes may lead to hierarchical materials design
July 14, 2022 20:00 - 4 minutes - 3.19 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Laura Rossi from Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) and Greg van Anders from the University of Michigan (USA) and Queen’s University (Canada) about advances they’ve made in colloidal preassembly in order to gain control in materials structure at a range of length scales. Through experiments and computer simulation, the researchers showed that particle interaction and particle shape can be decoupled through spherical...
Episode 12: Compact optical system achieves achromatic focusing
July 08, 2022 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.42 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Adam Kubec at Swiss startup XRNanotech and research team member Marie-Christine Zdora of the Paul Scherrer Institut about their proof-of-principle of an x-ray achromatic lens. The lens consist of a focusing diffractive and a defocusing refractive optical element that achieves imaging of a range of wavelengths without having to move the sample. The researchers used two different diffractive lenses, one made from nickel and one wit...
Episode 11: Implantable bioelectronics utilizes ionic communication system
June 15, 2022 14:00 - 8 minutes - 5.57 MBIn this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Stephen Riffle interviews Jennifer Gelinas, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and Institute for Genomic Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Dion Khodagholy, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University, about their ionic communication system for implantable devices. The system involves building a capacitor using water ions and biomolecules. With the placement of two...