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IRG 1 pioneers endotaxial heterostructures—interleaved polytypes of 2D materials—to access novel quantum states for advanced computing. By combining computational predictions, synthesis techniques, and device fabrication, this research enables breakthroughs in quantum and classical information technologies, aligning with priorities in nanoelectronics and quantum science.

IRG 2 explores materials capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and pressures for nuclear fusion and hypersonic defense systems. Through neutron scattering, AI, and materials co-design, the group advances the understanding of structure, stability, and properties, driving innovations in energy, transport, and security technologies.

Principal Investigator
Pierre-Thomas Brun, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE)

Seed start and end dates: November 1, 2018 - October 31, 2019

Natural soft materials are often architected at all scales, and shaped in periodic structures that achieve advanced functionalities which cannot be matched by man-made materials [1–3]. Adapting these concepts to our own technological needs requires the development of a new fabrication pathways to structure and shape soft materials. The research objective of this project is to devise and formalize a new class of topologically and hierarchically architected soft materials (ASM) using interfacial instabilities. Our ASM consist of silicone based elastomers patterned with liquid inclusions whose shape, arrangement and composition is programmed using the rules and tools of fluid mechanics. Specifically, the Rayleigh-Plateau instability (RPI) is harnessed in viscous threads printed in polymer melts that cure in finite time so as to ’freeze’ the disperse phase and form tangible objects (see Fig1). The project is concerned with the directed control of these instabilities to robustly fabricate and control the size, the arrangement, and the morphology of our ASM.

While instabilities are traditionally regarded as a route towards failure in engineering, the PI aims to follow a different path; taming fluidic instabilities and harnessing the patterns and structures they naturally form. This methodology, recently demonstrated by the PI in another problem[4], capitalizes on the inherent periodicity, scalability, versatility and robustness of instabilities. This new design paradigm – building with instabilities – calls for an improved understanding of instabilities and pattern formation in complex media. Stability analysis is a classic topic in fluid mechanics, yet, little is known on the so called inverse problem: finding the optimal set of initial conditions and interactions that will be transmuted into a target shape without direct external intervention. More broadly, the project is rooted on the basis of recognizing model experiments as a valuable and powerful tool for discovery and exploration, in turn seeding the development of formal and predictive models.

IRG-1 aims to establish cell-free bioprogrammable materials, a new class of bioinspired composites whose properties autonomously adapt in response to specific spatiotemporal cues via the collective activity of embedded artificial cells. These bioprogrammable materials will possess autonomous properties such as self-healing, on-demand cargo release, degradation, dynamic mechanical property modulation, biomineralization, and shape-morphing. IRG-1 will establish a new paradigm for enhancing the performance and capabilities fo soft active materials by endowing them with the adaptive multi-functionality of biological systems, thus accelerating advances in sustainable agriculture, soft robotics, water treatment, smart clothing, food storage, and wound healing.

The Center of Excellence in Materials Research and Innovation* (CEMRI) at the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) will explore fundamental challenges in interdisciplinary materials research that will enable technological progress of a scope and complexity that requires the sustained contribution of researchers from multiple disciplines. In doing so, the Center will develop the experimental and theoretical tools and techniques necessary for further advances.

Research in the Center will be pursued through three Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) as well as a number of smaller Seed research projects. The theme of IRG-1 is to understand and control complex electronic materials that have spectacular electronic and magnetic properties, including high temperature superconductivity, huge electric field effects, and many forms of nanoscale electron self-organization. Starting from materials that are reasonably well described by existing theory, the group will systematically perturb the targeted materials through experimentally-accessible parameters such as electron overlap and carrier density, using observed changes in materials properties to drive new advances in understanding. The goal of IRG-2 is to understand and apply new mechanisms to manipulate electron spins in both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic materials. This research will potentially enable nonvolatile magnetic memory technologies that are much smaller, more energy efficient, more reliable, faster, and less expensive than competing strategies, possibly leading to the replacement of silicon-based memories in many applications. IRG-3 will explore atomic membranes an exciting new class of two-dimensional, free-standing materials only one atom thick yet mechanically robust, chemically stable, and virtually impermeable. Applications for these membranes loom in almost every technological sector from electronics to chemical passivation to high-resolution imaging, but major materials challenges must first be addressed. The timely exploration of novel ideas, higher-risk and potentially transformative projects will be enabled by a Seed research program that will pursue limited-term, exploratory research projects. This program will nucleate new interdisciplinary, materials-focused research projects, integrate new faculty into the Center, and refresh the Center's portfolio of research. National and international collaborations will augment and enable the Center's research by providing access to one-of-a-kind facilities, specialized instrumentation, new techniques, and world-leading expertise.

The research program will educate a diverse cadre of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars in areas of national need and importance. To further improve the national supply of science and engineering students, Center researchers will partner with K-12 teachers to improve student interest and achievement in science, technology, and mathematics. These activities will be complemented by a summer research program that will provide undergraduate students with an introduction to materials research. The Center will enhance the local and national materials research infrastructure by offering both routine and state-of-the-art Shared Facilities, offering fabrication, analysis, and characterization and consultation to all users (on a fee-per-use basis). Knowledge transfer to industry and other sectors will be stimulated by extensive collaborations with international, industrial, academic, and national lab researchers, as well as by a multifaceted industrial partnerships program.

IRG 2 explores nonequilibrium magnetic phases using extreme strains and ultrafast excitation in single-crystalline membranes. By understanding complex energy landscapes, the group aims to discover novel magnetic phases and enable ultrafast switching for applications in data storage, telecommunications, and neuromorphic computing.

 

IRG Leaders: Daniel A. Hammer & Virgil Percec

Senior Investigators; Jason A. Burdick, William F. DeGrado, Mark D. Goulian, Paul A. Heiney, Daeyeon Lee, and Michael L. Klein

IRG-2 will create new materials, inspired by virology, from self-assembled Janus dendrimers and designer proteins. These new materials, with virus-like structures and functions, will be useful for sensing, communication, and response. Self-assembling amphiphilic Janus-dendrimers (JDs) - dendrimers with two faces, one hydrophilic and one hydrophobic - will be used to build novel nano-structures which will be equipped with components to amplify signals, inactivate viruses, and harvest energy. The IRG will engineer novel functionality into JD-vesicles (JDVs) using the structure of nature's viruses as a guiding principle. Specifically, the IRG will design, synthesize, and characterize functional virus-like JDVs using an array of experimental tools, guided by state-of-the-art computer simulations. The collective effort of the group will be directed to design and optimize JD building blocks and peptide motifs that enable self-assembly and the integration of components into functioning virus-like nano-systems, containing self-assembling protein capsids and/or active sensory components, to ultimately produce entirely new smart nano-materials.

The IRG-A team focuses on uncovering novel electronic effects in a wide range of new quantum materials, from spin liquid systems, to novel 2-D systems and their twisted stacks, and various superconducting and non-symmorphic materials. The team searches for and synthesizes new topological materials guided by the application of machine learning techniques combined with topological quantum chemistry -- taking on the NSF's Big Idea "The Quantum Leap."

The Center operates an ambitious Seed program designed to foster innovation and promote Center growth and evolution. Awards are made to individual faculty members or small clusters in support of high risk projects or research in emerging areas.