Luping Yu, Dmitri Talapin and collaborators from the University of Chicago MRSEC are working to develop highly efficient bulk heterojunction organic solar cells.  They have recently created composite polymer solar cells from a combination of the semiconducting polymer, PTB7, PC71BM, and doped multiwall carbon nanotubes (MCNT--these MCNT are doped with N (nitrogen), 

An international team studying the motion of  both bacteria and similar-sized artificial  catalytic nanomotors has found that they transfer momentum to their surroundings in a  similar way, despite their very different  propulsion mechanisms.

Polymer gels undergoing a self-oscillating chemical reaction have been previously shown to pulsate autonomously while exhibiting periodic color changes. Van Vliet and Balazs have now demonstrated that a non-oscillating, quiescent gel can be “resuscitated” by applying mechanical pressure to the material. By varying the conditions of the reaction, the amplitude and frequency of the mechanically resuscitated oscillations can be tuned. Further, it was demonstrated that gel-to-gel communication occurs when the gels are

      Nanoionic composites have the potential to dramatically enhance the ionic conductivity of solid state electrolytes that are critical to  numerous devices including fuel cells, electrochromic windows, and thin film batteries. 

  Colloidal silicon quantum dot solution is stable over months Monosilane avoids multilayer formation Dangling bond surface defects no longer observed Tunable red to green emission    

On March 22, 2012, CRISP, in collaboration with Yale's Science Pathways, hosted a public lecture in support of the 2012 NanoDays national outreach campaign. IRG2 leader Jan Schroers gave a talk entitled, Strong as Steel, but Pliable as Plastic: Metals Conquering the Nanoworld. Hands-on demonstrations for students were provided by CRISP researchers.   The Yale Science Pathways initiative supports public school students' success in science throughout their academic career and aims to increase the number of New Haven students who go on to earn college degrees in science.

Objective: To develop nanofabrication capabilities that will allow for writing structures as small as ~10 nm. Approach: Use MRSEC funds provided by the State of Utah to purchase state-of-the-art nanofabrication capabilities to expand existing materials research capabilities. Results and Significance: We have purchased and installed a new $1.5M dual beam focused ion beam system that is housed in the University of Utah Nanofab. The system is being used extensively within MRSEC to create nano-plasmonic devices.

MRSEC postdoc, Dr. Kermin Martínez-Hernández; Visiting Scholar, Sandy Sine; and former MRSEC RET participant, Troy Dassler organized a workshop “Integrating cutting-edge nanotechnology into the inquiry-based learning experience.” This was part of the professional development workshop prepared for Middle Year’s Science Teachers and organized by CESA 6 Science Center: Meeting Demand for 21st Century Learning and UW-Madison Wisconsin Leads in Math and Science Initiative

Molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse grain model are used to explore the morphology of thermotropic liquid crystal nanodroplets. The characteristic length of the droplets is such that different contributions to the energy, including interfacial and bulk-like terms, have comparable magnitudes. Depending on the relative strength of such contributions, a wide variety of mesophases can be identified. These range from a completely disordered isotropic phase at elevated temperatures, to ordered radial and smectic phases at low temperatures.