Highlights

Photo/beta-voltaic Diodes

The long-lived, high-capacity, self-supply reputation of beta-voltaic devices make them very popular in remote and long term use, such as satellite and other unmanned vehicle power supplies in the aerospace, backup power sources and harvesting the energy of radioactive waste in the power industry, long lasting electrically powered implants in the biotechnology, and radioisotope detectors for nuclear and /or radiological devices in the antiterrorism. The recent progress in technology has prompted some new applications to suggest using beta-voltaics to trickle-charge conventional batteries in consumer devices, such as cell phones and laptop computers. However, beta-voltaic devices made with conventional semiconductors tend to suffer very rapid degradation due to radiation damage. In particular, beta-voltaic cells made with silicon and 90Sr degrade significantly in a single day, far short of the radioisotope’s half-life, 28 years. Fortunately, the degradation problem can potentially be alleviated by replacing conventional semiconductors with icosahedral boron carbide semiconductors, which have been proved to survive extensive irradiance due to the self-healing of icosahedral structure. Recently, Prof. Chrisey’s group with collaborators has successfully fabricated the prototype photo/beta-voltaic diode based on boron carbide thin film by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or magnetron sputtering.

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Order of Magnitude Improvement in Fatigue Performance of Nanoscale Alumina Filled Epoxy

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

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

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. High efficiency, low cost fuel cells

Aligned nanostructures of carbon offer new promise as catalyst supports that minimize the amount of expensive precious metals required for the electrodes of next generation fuel cells. 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. Anisotropic self-assembly of spherical polymer-grafted nanoparticles

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)

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

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.

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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:

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)