Highlights
High efficiency, low cost fuel cells
A novel type of electrode developed by graduate student Michael Gasda, Prof. Glenn Eisman, and Prof. Daniel Gall offers new promise for high efficiency fuel cells with low materials cost. Aligned nanorods of carbon grown by glancing angle physical vapor deposition are coated with platinum catalyst in a scalable, high-throughput process. The porosity and surface area of the resulting structures can be independently controlled, enabling more effective gas transport to reaction sites within the electrode and higher utilization of the expensive platinum catalyst.
Links:
Center for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research
NSF IGERT Fellowship – PhD program in the engineering, science and entrepreneurship of fuel cells
Highlight List
Choose any of the highlights below to view more information and links.
Novel nanoscale alumina particle filled epoxy nanocomposites were designed and developed for potential use in electrical machine insulation.
Researchers discover method to induce, suppress branching of nanorods 
A new technique for growing single-crystal nanorods and controlling their shape using biomolecules could enable the development of smaller, more powerful heat pumps and devices that harvest electricity from heat.
New Study Links Heat Transfer, Bond Strength of Materials
The study shows that this flow of heat from one material to another can be dramatically altered by “painting” a thin atomic layer between materials. Changing the interface fundamentally alters the way the materials interact.
Crack Resistant Glass
There are two types of oxide glasses. Between these two types of glasses, there are intermediate glasses, whose properties do not change much with the cooling rate from the melts. These intermediate glasses were found highly crack-resistant.
Photo/beta-voltaic Diodes 
Due to unique electronic properties and the unusual quality of self-healing of radiation damage, boron carbide based semiconductors have been fabricated to form photo/beta-voltaic diodes which can be used for power harvesting and sensing applications.
Anisotropic self-assembly of spherical polymer-grafted nanoparticles
By attaching polymer brushes to spherical nanoparticles, nanoparticles orient into strings due to brush attachment.
Photoactive acenes for organic photovoltaics (OPVs)
By designing the interaction between metal substrates and the first layer of molecules, acenes can be packed in a face-to-face fashion instead of the conventional herringbone (face-to-edge) arrangement.
Nanorockets Propelled by Catalytic Chemical Reactions
Rocket engines have been around for centuries and have carried humans to moon. The same propulsion principle is in fact applicable at the nanoscale. Nanostructures can propel themselves by burning the surround fuels, as shown by molecular simulations.
Laser fabricated micro-/nanostructures
While others have used "Pulsed laser ablation in liquid" to produce nanoparticles for ten years, researchers at Rensselaer found for the first time that this approach could lead to more interesting structures.
To Find Out More Go To: http://www.eng.rpi.edu.eng
Research Topics
Materials Science and Engineering faculty work across many discipliness, select a research topic from the list below to get a list of the faculty working in those areas:
- Advanced Materials
- Applied Mechanics/Mechanics of Materials
- Biomaterials
- Biomedical Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Cellular Engineering
- Ceramic Materials
- Composite Materials
- Computational Modeling
- Crystals
- Data Mining and Knowledge Acquisitions
- Electronic Devices
- Electronic Materials
- Energy
- Entrepreneurship
- Extracellular Matrix and Tissue Engineering
- Flexible Manufacturing
- Functional Tissue Engineering
- Glass Materials
- Heat Transfer
- High Voltage Engineering and Dielectric Phenomena
- Industrial Engineering
- Integrated Electronics
- Interfacial Phenomena
- Lasers
- Manufacturing and Service Operations
- Manufacturing Processes
- Manufacturing/Design
- Mass Transport
- Materials for Microelectronic Systems
- Materials IT
- Materials Processing
- Metallurgy
- Microelectronics Technology
- Microstructures
- Modeling
- Molecular Simulations
- Nanomaterials
- Nanotechnology
- Nuclear Science and Technology
- Optoelectronics
- Particles
- Plasma Science
- Plastics
- Polymers
- Process Control and Design
- Radiation
- Reliability
- Semiconductors
- Sensors
- Silicon
- Simulation
- Solar Energy
- Solid Mechanics
- Thermodynamics
- Thin Film
- Tissue Engineering
- Tissue-Implant Interfaces
- Tribology
- Wound Healing
Did you know?
Rensselaer's Department of Materials Science and Engineering...
- one of the oldest materials departments in the country,
- has consistently ranked among the top 15 Departments in the United States,
- committed to the educational process, to individual mentoring, and to academic excellence,
- offers many Undergraduate & Graduate courses in an interactive, hands-on format, and
- provides opportunities for undergraduate research.
Materials Science and Engineering offers students a variety of hands-on design opportunities—even bridge design! See a sample project from Design in Materials Engineering (MTLE – 4910)