Research Highlights

The paper describes the use of a short protein (peptide) sequence feature to control self-assembly using pH. We showed that this control allows access to structures unprecedented in nature or computationally designed protein assemblies. The resulting nanowires are...

Spin–orbit torques enable energy-efficient manipulation of magnetization by electric current and hold promise for applications ranging from non-volatile memory to neuromorphic computing. A team lead by Prof. Ilya Krivorotov of the CCAM seed project discovered a new...

Disulfide hydrogels, based on cysteine-driven redox systems, exhibit remarkable self-assembly properties through reversible disulfide bond formation, making them a promising platform for dynamic material design. A research team from IRG-2, led by Prof....

An IRG2 team, led by Prof. Sahar Sharifzadeh (Boston University) and Prof. Stacy Copp (University of California, Irvine), has developed an approach that integrates machine learning with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study dynamic...

Impact of Entropy Stabilization on Electrical Conductivity Entropy-stabilized oxide (ESO) research has primarily focused on discovering unprecedented structures, chemistries, and properties in the single-phase state. However, few studies discuss the impacts of entropy...

Observing the Dynamics of an Electrochemically Driven Active Material with Liquid Electron Microscopy The IRG-2 team led by Assistant Professor Joe Patterson (Department of Chemistry) and his student Wyeth Gibson, have pioneered the observation of molecular active...

Exceptional Electronic Transport & Quantum Oscillations in Thin Bismuth Crystals Grown Inside vdW Materials The seed team, led by Assistant Professor Javier D. Sanchez-Yamagishi, has developed an innovative approach to thin crystal synthesis by growing bismuth...

Sensitive Thermochromic Behavior of InSeI Optical thermometry measures temperature using the optical properties of materials, such as luminescence, absorbance, or fluorescence. In a study published in Advanced Materials, the seed team led by Assistant Prof. Maxx Q....

Neural Network Kinetics Method Predicts Atomic Diffusion in Complex Materials IRG-1 researchers, Assistant Professor Penghui Cao of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and his student Bin Xing, have developed a groundbreaking Neural Network Kinetics (NNK) method to...

The main achievement of this research is revealing the atomic-scale origin of the low grain-boundary (GB) resistance in air-quenched (Li0.375Sr0.4375)(Ta0.375Nb0.375Zr0.125Hf0.125)O3 (LSTNZH) perovskite solid electrolyte in charge perspective and...

•In IRG-1, Luo, Xin, Rupert, and their students have discovered Ni activated sintering of MoNbTaW guided by a computed grain boundary “phase” (complexion) diagram. •This collaborative study made the first observation of solid-state activated sintering in a...

Grain boundaries often transition between different states, which has important implications for material stability as well as key properties such as strength and fracture resistance.  In this study, atomistic computer models were used to study grain boundary...

•Heat treatment-induced phase transformation enhances the electronic conductivity of grain interior in entropy stabilized oxides (ESOs) by tuning grain defect chemistry, as second phases segregate to the grain boundaries (GBs). •This work demonstrates the potential to...

Understanding phase stability of CoCrNi alloy is necessary to ensure that no detrimental phases form when held for long period of time during the potential application temperature •A long-term annealing at 450 °C for 350 hrs was employed to explore the phase stability...

§Refractory complex concentrated alloy (RCCA) exploration and development has been enabled by plasma arc melting (PAM) §Sources of interstitial impurities and variations in PAM are not well documented Key Findings: §Established understanding of the driving forces for...

Our previous work revealed that the (Co,Cu,Mg,Ni,Zn)1-xNaxO system exhibits an electrically conductive layered grain boundary phase at high-temperature processing conditions (Figure A). This boundary phase is a P2 type NaxCoO2 layered structure that has not been...

Grain boundaries (GB), which can significantly hinder Li-ion transport, are the bottleneck of improving solid electrolytes’ ionic conductivity. The atomic structure and electrostatic characteristics of GBs thus become pivotal areas of study in materials science. In...

By increasing the sintering temperature to 1400 °C, the microstructure and chemical distribution of the HENA is significantly optimized. (Fig.1a-b, d-e) By introducing additive Zr into the HENA (sintered at 1400 °C), the microstructure and the compositional...

To design improved conductive and bio-compatible nanowires,we aim to understand their electronic structure and electron transfer mechanism, focusing on structure-property relationships. Over the last year, these calculations: •Elucidated the relationship between...

Certain peptides self-assemble fibers that exhibit long-range charge transport. Thermal fluctuations have been implicated as important in this emergent property.1 We adapted our interpretable machine learning (ML) platform2 to understand how thermal fluctuations...