Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives
12/17/20 — New catalytic process can stick polyethylene to metal or other materials, potentially boosting the economics of recycling
Materials science
Anti-COVID mask breaks the mold
12/10/20 LBL — Scientists from Berkeley Engineering and Berkeley Lab have designed a rechargeable N95 mask with a custom fit
Top scholars named AAAS fellows
12/02/20 — Engineering professors Sanjay Kumar (bioengineering), Robert Ritchie (mechanical engineering and materials science) and Peidong Yang (chemistry and materials science) are among five Berkeley scholars elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The transformer
11/05/20 — Professor Junqiao Wu is developing next-gen technologies with vanadium dioxide, a compound that can change from an insulator to a metal.
Researchers break magnetic memory speed record
10/29/20 — Advance could lead to new generation of ultrafast computer chips that retain data even when there is no power
Berkeley engineers give graphene a new twist to boost optoelectronics
10/20/20 — By stacking sheets of graphene on top of each other and twisting them, researchers have converted a common linear material into one with nonlinear optical capabilities crucial to everyday technology.
Berkeley Engineering announces five new faculty fellows
09/28/20 — Five new faculty members are joining the College of Engineering as faculty fellows, with ample funding to equip labs, hire graduate students and get their research projects up and running.
Berkeley researchers develop highly efficient, energy-dense capacitor
08/19/20 Berkeley Lab — New material could ultimately combine the efficiency and robustness of capacitors with the energy storage capabilities of larger-scale batteries for use in consumer electronics.
Kristin Persson named director of Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry
08/05/20 — MSE professor's pioneering use of data-driven methodologies for materials discovery is spurring a new age of innovation
Researchers create surface coating that can create false infrared images
07/23/20 — The visual decoy technique could lead to new advances in encryption technology
Bakar Prize winner hopes to harness sun’s power
06/22/20 — Junqiao Wu, professor of material science and engineering, awarded campus's new $225,000 prize for real-world potential of his thermal-powered material transformations
Off the scales: Fish armor both tough and flexible
06/22/20 Berkeley Lab — High-tech imaging of carp scales by Berkeley materials scientists reveals remarkable properties that could lead to advanced synthetic materials
Researcher creates machine learning tool to help scientists locate materials needed for innovations
05/08/20 — Kristin Persson leads the Materials Project, an open-access online database to assist scientists searching for the next big thing in batteries, solar cells, and computer chips
Materials sciences professor Ramamoorthy Ramesh named to Royal Society
04/29/20 — Ramesh has created nanosized materials that can power small electrical devices with minimal amounts of energy
Researchers discover ferroelectricity at the atomic scale
04/22/20 — A team of researchers have managed to grow ultra-thin material on silicon that can power small electronic devices
Grand designs
04/14/20 — Researchers have created a synthetic material that is as effective as naturally occurring proteins in transporting molecules through membranes.
Tough as scales
04/14/20 — A study has determined exactly what makes the scales of the Amazonian freshwater fish, Arapaima gigas, so tough.
Is spaghetti the key to building a better robot?
01/22/20 — Studying how spaghetti reacts to water might offer clues to how robots built from flexible materials can better mimic human movement, according to Oliver O'Reilly, professor of mechanical engineering.
New discovery makes it easier to design synthetic proteins that rival their natural counterparts
01/08/20 — Researchers have created a synthetic membrane that could transform fields including medicine, life sciences, alternative energy and environmental science.
Ceder peeks into the battery pipeline
12/16/19 Berkeley Lab — From cobalt-free to sodium-ion, Berkeley Lab scientist and MSE professor Gerbrand Ceder evaluates some of the most promising battery technologies in development.