Materials Science Program Archives - News Center

Bioplastic ocean instrument labeled Nereid enclosed in transparent casing.

Science & Technology

Bacteria-based bioplastics reduce ocean waste

A team of scientists, including biology professor Anne S. Meyer, is developing plastic materials that degrade in oceans.

hands wearing black gloves hold a small gray chip with a blue center.

Science & Technology

Scientists developing microchips with brain and lung tissue to study viral neuroinflammation

October 16, 2024

Researchers will use tissue-on-chip technology as a new way to explore the relationship between the lungs and brain.

Three people wearing protective eye gear in a lab demonstrate heat transfer mapping techniques that are displayed on a computer screen.

Science & Technology

New technique pinpoints nanoscale ‘hot spots’ in electronics to improve their longevity

Rochester engineers have developed a way to spot tiny, overheated components that cause electronics’ performance to degrade.

Pipette releasing a water droplet atop carbon paper to illustrate the remediation of pfas forever chemicals.

Science & Technology

Harmful ‘forever chemicals’ removed from water with new electrocatalysis method

A novel approach using laser-made nanomaterials made from nonprecious metals could lay the foundation for globally scalable remediation techniques.

Close-up of tweezers holding µSiM chip of the kind University of Rochester’s Translational Center for Barrier Microphysiological Systems (TraCe-bMPS).

Health & Medicine

New NIH-funded center could soon reduce the need for pharmaceutical trials on animals

January 9, 2024

Rochester is one of four NIH-sponsored centers that aims to produce tissue-on-chip devices as FDA-qualified drug development tools.

$Various diagnostic tools pointing at an x-ray diffraction image plate with material on it.$

Science & Technology

Machine learning boosts search for new materials

December 19, 2023

Rochester scientists have developed deep-learning models that can sift through the massive amounts of data generated by X-ray diffraction techniques.

Closeup of semiconductor chip attached to circuitboard.

Science & Technology

Rochester named an REU site for undergraduate semiconductor research

The National Science Foundation has named Rochester as one of six new grant-supported Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites.

Four vertical environmental photos of Anne S. Meyer, Todd Krauss, Kara Bren, and Andrew White.

Science & Technology

Unlocking the power of photosynthesis for clean energy production

A new grant will allow Rochester researchers to leverage bacteria and nanomaterials to mimic photosynthesis and produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel.

Close-up of a perovskite crystalline stone against a white background. Perovskites show great potential as light absorbing material.

Science & Technology

Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient

February 16, 2023

By harnessing the power of metals, Rochester researchers are making the material an ever more viable replacement for silicon in solar cells and detectors.

Illustrated array of electrons in silicon, showing electron spin with voltage being applied.

Science & Technology

New method to control electron spin paves the way for efficient quantum computers

January 27, 2023

The method, developed by researchers including John Nichol, an associate professor of physics, overcomes the limitations of electron spin resonance.