Materials Science | Penn Today

collection of assorted batteries facing upward

Self-healing liquid brings new life to battery alternative

In Penn engineers’ new anode design, gallium repeatedly melts and solidifies, “healing” the cracks that would otherwise gradually decrease the battery’s ability to hold a charge.

Engineers solve the paradox of why tissue gets stiffer when compressed

Tissue gets stiffer when it’s compressed. That stiffening response is a long-standing biomedical paradox, as common sense dictates that when you push the ends of a string together, it loosens tension, rather than increasing it. New research explains the mechanical interplay between that fiber network and the cells it contains.

New topological insulator can reroute photonic ‘traffic’ on the fly

Penn researchers, who first discovered topological insulators in 2005, have shown, for the first time, a way for a topological insulator to make use of its entire footprint without wasted space throughout the material’s interior.

a group of 40 people posing on a staircase

A ‘quantum leap’ for quantum information science

By bringing together experts across campus and across disciplines, Penn is poised to lead ongoing efforts towards developing quantum applications using atomically-thin materials.

A superstrong, reversible adhesive that works like snail slime

When wet, the material conforms to the grooves on a surface, and when dry, the material hardens and fastens itself securely to the surface.

Applying machine learning to materials science

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are applied to an increasing number of tasks, But using machine learning in materials science, which attempts to design and make materials for use in future technologies, has proven to be more difficult.

Making complex 3-D surfaces with 2-D sheets

Using liquid crystal elastomer, researchers are able to transform 2-dimensional rubber-like sheets into malleable, three-dimensional shapes, with a precise amount of control for various shape sequences.

Paving the way for safer smaller batteries and fuel cells

A new solid polymer electrolyte may be the key to making energy storage devices like lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries more efficient.

An innovative approach to better energy storage

A Penn/Drexel research team has engineered a way to manipulate nanomaterials to stand up vertically on a scale that has potential for industrial applications.

Researchers show that cells’ perception of stiffness is a matter of time

The relative stiffness of a cell’s environment is known to have a large effect on that cell’s behavior, including how well the cell can stick or move. Now, a new study by University of Pennsylvania researchers demonstrates the role timing plays in how cells perceive this stiffness.

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