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Program Highlights

Surface-Enhanced Fluorescence of Pyrene on Nanostructured Aluminum

Both the absorption and emission of ultraviolet light by pyrene (PAH compound) are enhanced by more than 30-fold on nanostructured aluminum, compared to an equivalent control sample on sapphire (aluminum oxide). 

Using Shape Memory Alloys for Active Terahertz Plasmonic Devices

We show the first demonstration of shape memory alloys being used for active THz devices. The metal foil was found to reproducibly cycle between the two geometries over 100 times. 

Hands-on Science After School

Utah MRSEC establishes science and engineering afterschool clubs at community centers and schools serving predominately underrepresented minority (URM) students in those fields. The Education and Outreach team then hires and trains University of Utah undergraduates to lead the clubs and deliver hands-on activities each week.

Discovery of a New Line Defect in a Perovskite Oxide

Defects, essentially locations in a crystal where the perfect arrangement of atoms is disturbed, are inherent in materials, and play a key role in their function.

Solution-Processed Indium Oxide Transistors: Printing Two-Dimensional Metals

Transistors, the building blocks of all computer technologies, are currently based on semi-conductors such as silicon, manufactured using energy-intensive processes.

Spooling Instability of Self-Propelled Flexible Filaments

Cytoskeletal filaments with chemical motors attached are the basic elements in cells that enable biological motion. Computer simulation of model biomotive systems show that even systems with minimal ingredients are able to generate the kind of exotic nonequilibrium behavior observed in cells.

Photoinduced Plasticity In Cross-linked Polymer Networks

Researchers in the Soft Materials Research Center of the University of Colorado Boulder have employed dynamic covalent chemistry to make cross-links that can be controlled optically, enabling materials that can be softened or changed in shape by light.

Inexpensive Polymer Films for Efficient Daytime Radiative Cooling

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have made a discovery that explores an inexpensive way to eliminate waste heat in buildings, cooling systems, and even cars and trucks.

Understanding Loops in Polymer Networks Results in an Improved Theory for Rubbery Materials

MRSEC researchers have used newly developed loop counting methods to precisely measure the storage moduli and loop fractions of a range of rubbery gels. A new theory, called Real Elastic Network Theory (RENT) was derived that describes how loop defects affect bulk elasticity.

Controlled Fragmentation of Multimaterial Fibers Via Polymer Cold-Drawing

MIT MRSEC researchers have demonstrated for the first time a selective cold drawing process in multi-material fibers in which one material undergoes cold-drawing while the others do not.

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