We discover, design and characterize
the advanced materials humanity needs.
At UC San Diego, we leverage our cross-disciplinary expertise to discover, design, and characterize advanced materials needed to address global societal challenges. Our materials work is relevant for developing zero- and low-carbon energy and transportation systems; cost-effective healthcare advances; solutions for natural-resource sustainability; and next-generation information technologies.
This work is grounded in our ability to control materials at the level of atoms and electrons.
Equally important, we are world-leaders in characterizing the structure and function of materials at the nanoscale level using a suite of cutting-edge analytical and theoretical tools, many of which we have developed here at UC San Diego.
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Recent News
March 13, 2020
Pathways toward realizing the promise of all-solid-state batteries
UC San Diego nanoengineers offer a research roadmap describing four challenges that need to be addressed in order to advance a promising class of batteries, all-solid-state batteries, to commercialization. The researchers describe their work to tackle these challenges over the past three years. Full Story
March 12, 2020
'Spillway' for electrons could keep lithium metal batteries from catching fire
UC San Diego nanoengineers developed a safety feature that prevents lithium metal batteries from rapidly overheating and catching fire in case of an internal short circuit. The clever tweak does not prevent battery failure, but rather provides advance warning of failure and makes it much safer. Full Story
February 25, 2020
Light-shrinking device enables detection of ultra-tiny substances
Engineers at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley have created light-based technology that can detect biological substances with a molecular mass more than two orders of magnitude smaller than previously possible. The research could lead to the development of ultra-sensitive devices that can quickly detect pathogens in human blood and considerably reduce the time needed for patients to get results from blood tests. Full Story