Center for Nanoscale Science | A Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)

Welcome to the Center for Nanoscale Science

The Center for Nanoscale Science is a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMR-2011839 (2020 - 2026). The Center supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts in the area of nanoscale materials.

IRG1 - 2D Polar Metals and Heterostructures

IRG 2 - Crystalline Oxides with High Entropy

MRSEC Outreach Teams

MRSEC grads and Upward Bound students bond at Arts Fest Kids Day.

Research Opportunities for Undergrads

Research Opportunities for NCCU & Cal State LA Undergrads and Masters Students through PREM

Interdisciplinary Research Groups

Currently the Center is composed of two (2) Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRG). Common themes of complex materials synthesis and length scale dependent physical phenomena permeate both IRGs. These research themes are integrated with major efforts in educational and industrial outreach.

News at MRSEC

Unique ferroelectric microstructure revealed for the first time

MRSEC faculty Nasim Alem and graduate student Leixin Miao (department of Material Science and Engineering) were recently highlighted by Penn State News for their investigation of a novel ferroelectric material.

Susan Sinnott recognized with 2022 AVS Medard W. Welch Award

Susan Sinnott, head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Penn State and faculty member of IRG 2 (High Entropy Oxides), has been selected for the top research award from the American Vacuum Society (AVS). She will give the honorary lectureship "Atomistic Simulations to Advance Surface Science" at the AVS 68th International Symposium and Exhibition this November.

DynaCool PPMS 14T is launched

Penn State's DynaCool 14T is launched and it is ready for people to schedule measurements. To learn more training and using the DynaCool PPMS 14T please see their website. The DC resistivity module and ETO module (AC measurement on resistance DV/DI vs Idc and I-V) are available. If you want to use the rotator or He-3 module, please contact Cequn Li or Yifan Zhao first.

Fulbright Award to a Research Experience for Teachers resulted from National Science Foundation Funding

Former Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) fellowship recipient, Paul Orbe received a 2021 Fulbright Teachers for Global Classroom award. NSF funding supported his research in the Dabo group at the Penn State MRSEC. By utilizing High-throughput methods, Paul contributed to the discovery of materials catalyzing water splitting reactions.

Co-Authored Research Experience for Teachers Resulted in a Publication

Paul Orbe an RET (Research Experience for Teachers) program participant research with Ismmaila Dabo lead to a published a paper resulting from research on hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles have helped curtail the global consumption of petroleum-based fuels for personal transportation. Photocatalysis offers a potential solution for the solar generation of hydrogen by electrochemically cleaving water. Data-driven materials screening could expedite the discovery and development of efficient photocatalysts.

The RET bring 3D Printed Material Measurements to 5th Graders

The Research Experience for Teachers collaboration resulted in a published paper focused on creating 3D printed equipment to help make the measurement of liquid contact angles on solid surfaces more accessible for K12 classrooms. The developed system was created utilizing the Penn State Makers Commons' 3D printers, while various sample surfaces surfaces were additionally explored using the Material Characterization Laboratory's Scanning Electron Microscope and a MRSEC-funded laboratory goniometer.

Upcoming Events 2022

Oct

MRSEC Faculty and Student Retreat

Retreat will be held at the Civil Engineering Lodge at Stone Valley

Seminars

MRSEC Fall 2022 seminar series will be in the Millennium Science Complex N201.
MRSEC Seminars are on Monday’s at 12:20 PM ET unless otherwise noted.

September 19th - IRG Leaders, Research Update and Future Plans

September 26th - Outreach Teams Kickoff

October 3rd - Dr. Cormac Toher (UT Dallas), Predicting the synthesizability and properties of disordered materials from first-principles

October 10th - Claudio Ordonez (Knappenberger Lab), Plasmonic Tuning of High Harmonic Generation from 2D-Metals & Shubham Sukumar Awate (Fullerton Lab), Electric double layer gating of two-dimensional metals

October 17th - No seminar - MRSEC Retreat @ Stone Valley Civil Engineering Lodge

October 24th - Industry Career Panel

October 31st - Yeongwoo Son (Troiler-McKinstry Lab) Electrocaloric Effect of Perovskite High Entropy Oxide Films & Leixin Miao (Alem Lab)

November 7th - Julie Crusciel, Effective Networking

November 14th - Aaron Bostwick (Lawrence Berkeley Lab), TBD

Mission: Materials Science

The mission of this interactive website is to disseminate high-quality educational content about materials science, specifically to promote and increase public awareness of materials science. Read more »