NSF grant supports nanoscale research

Researchers in the College of Engineering have been awarded $2.5 million in grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate the structure and properties of nanoscale materials--the science of the "ultra small."

The multidisciplinary research efforts, which will be led by faculty in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will focus on the use of genetic engineering to synthesize nanostructural templates and on the structure and properties of electrospun nanofibers, nanocomposites and environmental and metallic nanoparticles.

Specific applications of this research are envisioned in tissue engineering and wound repair, drug delivery, polymer light-emitting diodes for next-generation flexible "flat panel" displays, electronic optical materials for enhanced microelectronic devices and catalysts and membranes for fuel cells.

Faculty from materials science and engineering will work with colleagues from the departments of Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Physics and Chemistry and researchers from DuPont's corporate research and development laboratories to investigate structure, processing and property relationships in nanoscale materials.

In addition, this multidisciplinary group will integrate research and education to provide a new generation of graduate and undergraduate students with the expertise and "work-force ready" skills to compete in the rapidly expanding field of nanoscale materials.

"Nanoscale materials research will help take us to the outer limits of our solar system and to the inner depths of our circulatory system, revolutionizing every aspect of our life from health care to the environment," says John F. Rabolt, Karl W. and Renate Böer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and chairperson of the department. "The potential impact of nanoscale materials over the next 100 years could easily make the 20th century seem like the Dark Ages."

The research, Rabolt says, aims to bring nanoscale materials "into mainstream applications in medicine, electronics and energy conservation."