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With few exceptions, polydispersity or molecular heterogeneity in matter tends to impede assembly Shape transformations of liquid droplets, for example, are readily understood on the basis of homogeneous material responses. Here, Yodh and Yang in IRG-3 studied drops filled with polydisperse nematic liquid crystal oligomers (NLCOs). They discovered that chain-length heterogeneity in the drops promotes reversible shape transitions to a rich variety of non-spherical morphologies with unique internal structure.

This collaboration between Dmochowski (Seed) and Kikkawa (IRG-3) addresses a  major challenge for molecular imaging with conventional MRI: the probes typically have low sensitivity and lack of responsiveness to local environment. The team developed a Co4 129Xe MRI sensor, which takes advantage of the high sensitivity of hyperpolarized 129Xe (~104 times greater signal than conventional MRI), and also has a very temperature-responsive 129Xe chemical shift.

A team at the Harvard MRSEC led by Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan and Jennifer A. Lewis has created shape-shifting lattices by combining predictive design and multimaterial 4D printing.

This unique partnership between Navajo Technical University and the Harvard MRSEC builds enduring pathways for undergraduate Native American students into STEM by including traditional Navajo  perspectives and methods of scientific inquiry in materials science research and education.

Using a simple device structure, it has been shown that electrical control of optical properties can be achieved through electrochemical hydrogen gating, sourced from moisture in the air.

MRSEC investigators reported that a versatile toolkit of guanidinium organosulfonate hydrogen-bonded host frameworks can form inclusion compounds with complex “stubborn” molecules that cannot be crystallized or form suitable single crystals for X-ray diffraction analysis by themselves, enabling determination of their molecular structure.

The research funded by this grant has enabled  to develop a conceptually new approach to colloidal self-assembly that borrows no material from biology and entirely relies on the innate charge that any colloidal particle develops in water.

Searching for new materials and phenomena to enable voltage control of magnetism and magnetic properties holds compelling interest for the development of low-power non-volatile memory devices. Here, we report on a non-volatile ON/OFF voltage control of magnetism in thin films of an oxide, SrCo1-xFexO3-δ (SCFO).