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The PCCM team has designed a new synthetic approach to preparing supported metal nanoparticle (NP) catalysts based on a noncovalent assembly, melamine cyanurate. This newly designed method introduces a fundamentally new class of supramolecular materials as a versatile platform for catalyst design with great potential in diverse electro/photo/thermal catalytic routes.

Ribosome biogenesis takes place in the nucleolus, a three-layered liquid-like structure. The PCCM MRSEC team recently discovered that the nucleolar architecture depends on correct ribosomal RNA processing. This discovery addresses one of the central IRG topics on how the formation of multiple condensed phases are controlled in macromolecular solutions containing passive and active components.

Enabled by an electron microscope pixel array detector in the Illinois MRSEC shared facilities, the team has developed an ultrahigh‑resolution electron ptychography method to measure thermal vibrations atom‑by‑atom in twisted WSe₂ bilayer.

The Illinois MRSEC has developed new multiscale simulations to capture all major sources of scattering that slow down charge flow, and has carefully validated the models with experimental data.

The IRG1 at UCSD demonstrated that the rate and efficiency of “Ligand Exchange via Phase Transfer” (LEPT) using CNArMes2 can be finely adjusted across a wide range of parameters, including the nanoparticle concentration, ligand concentration, pH, and choice of extraction solvent. Additionally, IRG1 revealed that LEPT proceeds via the formation of a Pickering emulsion, which is essential for effective nanoparticle transfer from water to the extraction solvent and is a processing factor that is overlooked in the consideration of how ligand binding and solubility factors affect phase transfer equilibria. 

The UCSD MRSEC team has developed a universal adhesive gel that forms strong, reversible, and conformal attachment to diverse plant surfaces through the synergistic combination of dynamic covalent bonding and mechanically adaptive hydrogel networks. This gel establishes stable, noninvasive interfaces with both hairy and nonhairy leaves and enables sustained plant attachment under environmental disturbances. Using this platform, the team further demonstrated localized cargo delivery into plant tissues and stable human–plant electrical interaction.

In the spirit of cross-MRSEC collaboration, the University of Delaware MRSEC (CHARM) and the University of Pennsylvania MRSEC (LRSM) jointly facilitated a joint “MRSEC Day” for their respective REU programs in Summer 2025.

This work by the MRSEC CHARM team shows how charges are arranged on a peptide particle surface, not just its composition, governs how it assembles for the predictable control of biomolecular assemblies across extreme conditions.

The MRSEC CHARM team. has created a theoretical formalism that shows that the transport of magnons can induce measurable electric polarization — a discovery that points the way toward enabling the control and detection of magnon spin and orbital transport with electrical or optical methods. .

CHARM’s Foundations for Outreach & Recruitment of Great Engineers & Scientists (FORGES) brings a group of local high school students to UD’s campus for one week during the summer where they participate in hands-on STEM activities with various departments across campus (e.g., Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Christiana Care’s Gene Editing Institute).