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The Maryland MRSEC carries out nationally recognized fundamental research on surfaces and interfaces of materials with potential impact on the next generation of opto- and nano-electronic devices, and on complex oxides with potential applications in memory, switches, and sensors.

IRG-1 establishes new synthesis-structure-property relationships for materials development based on non-covalent assembly. By utilizing both covalent and directed non-covalent interactions we aim to create new, extraordinarily responsive materials that will lie at the interface of biomaterials and synthetic macromolecules. These multi-functional systems show great promise in areas as diverse as novel catalysts and materials for tissue engineering.

The Colorado Center advances basic liquid crystal and soft materials science and seeks enhanced capabilities for electro-optic, nonlinear optic, chemical and other applications of liquid crystals.  Industrial interaction focuses on fostering of and collaboration with U.S. display and telecom industries.   The Center operates a vigorous education outreach program featuring science shows for the K-12 audience, and "Materials Science from CU", a program of traveling physical science enrichment classes reaching about 8,000 Colorado K-12 students/year.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports an interdisciplinary research program on grain boundary networks in polycrystals, called The Mesoscale Interface Mapping Project. The group research seeks to advance the understanding of grain boundary systems by developing and applying experimental and analytical techniques, including automated orientation imaging microscopy, to determine the structure, evolution and properties of grain boundaries in metals and ceramics. The Center also provides seed support for emerging research opportunities.

The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities that provide specialized instrumentation for the preparation and characterization of bulk materials and surfaces. Education and human resources development efforts include curriculum development collaborations with Pittsburgh area high schools, and a Collaborative to Integrate Research and Education with Florida A&M University that includes undergraduate curriculum development and joint research projects. The Center also has extensive research collaborations with industrial and government laboratories, and with other universities in the U.S. and abroad.

Participants in the Center currently include 10 senior investigators, 1 postdoctoral associates, 10 graduate students, 5 undergraduates and 2 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Gregory Rohrer directs the MRSEC.

This multifaceted MRSEC enables important areas of future technology, ranging from biomedicine, separations, and plastic electronics to security, renewable energy, and information technology. The UMN MRSEC manages an extensive program in education and career development. Center research activities are integrated with educational programs, providing interdisciplinary training of students and postdocs. The MRSEC is bolstered by a broad complement of over 35 companies that contribute directly to IRG research through intellectual, technological, and financial support. International research collaborations and student exchanges are pursued with leading research labs in Asia and Europe. The UMN MRSEC benefits from an extensive suite of materials synthesis, characterization and computational facilities.

 

This IRG seeks to elucidate the critical issues of control and coherence in both individual and in collective-mode quantum systems, with the goal of manipulating and exploiting quantum coerence in materials over a large range of length scales, from individual quantum centers to macroscopically entangled materials.  The proposed research directly advance applications in quantum sensing, fabricate materials for quantum information as well as create the next generation of characterization tools for traditional materials.

 

IRG-2 builds and studies elastic quantum matter — materials with quantum properties that are ultra-sensitive to elastic strain , offering opportunities from all-mechanical control of magnetization and superconductivity to creation of phonon-magnon circuitry, dynamical Josephson junction arrays, and dynamically controlled catalysts.

Established in 1994, the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) at Princeton University is dedicated to pushing the frontiers of complexity in materials science - bringing together over 30 faculty from six departments in the natural sciences and engineering. Currently funded by the NSF (DMR-1420541), the PCCM supports three Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and several seed projects. The current IRGs are focused on research in the newly discovered topological phases of electrons and materials, surface and dynamics in confined polymers, and the development of ultra-coherent quantum materials. In addition to forefront materials research, the center sponsors an active educational outreach program involving elementary, middle and high schools, as well as a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and teacher programs. Industrial collaboration is another important aspect of PCCM's research initiatives. 

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are efficient devices for producing electricity from a variety of gaseous fuels, including hydrogen, methane, and propane through a clean solid-state reaction.?е║ A typical SOFC consists of a porous nickel + yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) support layer and anode, YSZ electrolyte, and lanthanum strontium manganate (LSM) cathode.?е║ The efficiency of the SOFC depends in part on the morphology of the pore network, which serves as the conduit for fuel to reach the electrolyte and reaction products to escape, and the number of triple phase boundaries (TPBs) between pore, electrolyte, and anode phases.?е║ In particular, the tortuosity of the pore network limits transport and should be minimized while the number of TPBs should be maximized.?е║ Thermoreversible gelcasting (TRG) provides a convenient pathway to producing net-shaped, porous bodies such as SOFC supports.?е║ The pore networks of SOFC supports produced with this technique are evaluated using mercury intrusion porosimetry and X-ray computed tomography in order to optimize pore size and pore network morphology and tortuosity. Thermoelectric generators provide the ability to convert waste heat from industrial processes and transportation into electricity.?е║ Oxide-based thermoelectric generators have advantages over their more common metal counterparts due to their better temperature and environmental stability.?е║ Calcium cobaltite-based materials have high thermoelectric figures of merit at high temperatures.?е║ Using TRG, the material can be aligned in a chosen direction during component processing, producing anisotropic properties that improve the thermoelectric figure of merit in that direction.

Creating and studying new forms of quantum matter in atomically layered materials with particular focus on controlling electronic and excitonic phase transitions in such materials, and with potentially disruptive impact on energy and information technologies.