Research Quick Takes

3D Metastructure for Better Energy Harvesting

PhD students Huan Zhao and Xiangbei Liu, and Professor Yan Li co-authored "Architecture Design of High-Performance Piezoelectric Energy Harvester with 3D Metastructure Substrate" featured on the cover of Advanced Theory and Simulations. "We achieved a remarkable 13.26-fold improvement in PEH performance by replacing the traditional solid substrate with a 3D auxetic unit-cell metastructure," says Li.

Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Professor Geoffroy Hautier is one of six co-authors of a perspective published in Nature Energy about the path to more efficient production of sustainable fuels. The researchers describe a way to map out the oxygen evolution reaction that's critical for sustainable, decarbonized fuels such as hydrogen.

Nanoparticle-Based Biosensors

PhD candidate Gabby Moss and Professor Sol Diamond co-authored "Effects of Salt Concentration on a Magnetic Nanoparticle-Based Aggregation Assay with a Tunable Dynamic Range," published in Sensors. The team experimentally demonstrated the effects of salt concentration on magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) biosensing efficacy and mathematically modeled MNP stability in solutions with different salt concentrations. "Our work can be leveraged to design an in vivo nanoparticle-based biosensor with enhanced efficacy in the event of varying salt concentrations," says Moss.

NIH Cancer Imaging Award

Professors Geoffrey Luke and Kim Samkoe were awarded a $2.2 million four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "The project is focused on combining ultrasound imaging with tumor-targeted nanodroplets to detect the presence of oral cancer in lymph nodes," says Luke. The research could lead to better diagnosis and fewer surgeries.

INFORMS AAS Best Paper Award

Professor Vikrant Vaze received the INFORMS AAS Best Paper Award as co-author of, "Vertiport Planning for Urban Aerial Mobility: An Adaptive Discretization Approach" published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. The paper optimizes the number, locations, and capacities of vertiports for electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles in urban aerial mobility (UAM) systems while capturing interdependencies between vertiport deployment, tactical operations, and passenger demand.

Metamaterial Designs for Better Energy Harvesting

PhD students Ya Tang, Huan Zhao, and Xiangbei Liu, alum Jace Henry '24, and Professor Yan Li co-authored "Design of metamaterial thermoelectric generators for efficient energy harvesting," published in Energy Conversion and Management: X. The team demonstrated that thermoelectric generators (TEGs) incorporating metamaterial designs offer significant potential to enhance energy harvesting efficiency and broaden application possibilities. "By capturing waste heat from industrial processes, vehicles, and electronic devices, these metamaterial-based TEGs can contribute to energy conservation and promote environmental sustainability," says Li.

NSF Quantum Information Science Award

Professor Mattias Fitzpatrick received a $600,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) titled, "Explorations in Non-Hermitian Physics: From Fundamentals to Quantum Information Science Applications." The award is part of NSF's investment in quantum technologies with applications that include powerful computers, secure communications, and new industrial materials, sensors, and imaging tools.

Machine Learning Leads to Novel Metamaterials

PhD students Xiangbei Liu, Huan Zhao, Ya Tang, and Professor Yan Li are co-authors of "Few-shot learning-based generative design of metamaterials with zero Poisson’s ratio" published in Materials & Design. The team used their novel approach to "identify a non-periodic metamaterial that does not experience lateral deformation when stretched or compressed—constructed by strategically arranging 64 common unit cells, each having either positive or negative Poisson’s ratios. This unique property is highly desirable for applications such as space actuators, tissue scaffolds, and gaskets," said Li.

Research Pitch Winner: Re-building bones

PhD student and Surgical Innovation Fellow Peter Bertone won this year's Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) International Section Fracture Repair (ISFR) 3-Minute Research Pitch Competition. His pitch was titled, "Post-Radiation Renovation: Re-building Stronger 'Homes' with Better Bones." Said Bertone, "I described a scenario where a home is being treated for mold. My work focuses on treating and rebuilding bone after cancer. In both cases, you remove the affected area, treat it, and replace the missing structure and material." WATCH VIDEO

NSF National I-Corps Team "uDrive"

PhD students Bahlakoana Mabetha and Yanqiao Li—mentored by Google Research Scientist Hong Tan and advised by Professor Jason Stauth—were awarded $50,000 from the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) National Teams training program. After developing small, efficient integrated circuits, Li and Mabetha formed "uDrive" to commercialize their novel high-voltage low-power drivers for haptics that can solve key challenges in human-machine interactions through the sense of touch. They attended three trade shows and interviewed over 100 industry experts during the eight-week program.

Liquid Metal Printing for Flexible Electronics

PhD students Simon Agnew '22, Sam Ong, and Saifur Rahman, research associate Anand Tiwari, and professor Will Scheideler co-authored "Hypoeutectic Liquid Metal Printing of 2D Indium Gallium Oxide Transistors" published in Small. Their paper explores how to effectively dope liquid metal printed 2D semiconductors to make high-performance devices with a scalable, roll-to-roll process for flexible, transparent electronics.

Nanomesh for Elastic Neuroelectrodes

Researchers Jaehyeon Ryu, Yi Qiang, Gen Li, and Yongli Qi, PhD student Tianyu Bai, and Professor Hui Fang are co-authors on "Multifunctional Nanomesh Enables Cellular-Resolution, Elastic Neuroelectronics" published in Advanced Materials. "Our study presents a novel approach using conventional electrode materials through multifunctional nanomesh to achieve reliable elastic microelectrodes directly on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone with an unprecedented cellular resolution," says Ryu.