Applications of Materials
Energy storage
The world’s increasing energy demands, particularly for clean renewable energy, are pushing scientists to search for new materials with high efficiency for storing and delivering energy to people living in a wide array of environments. SAMD has research on energy storage materials including fuel cells, batteries, and photovoltaics designed from a wide array of inorganic and polymeric materials.
Nano-, bio-, and magnetic technologies
Sensors
Chemical, biological, and optical sensors are used in numerous different applications. Gas sensors warn people when toxic gases are present in their homes; biosensors can be used for early disease detection; and optical sensors are used in various motion sensor applications.
Medical/Biomedical Materials and Devices
Materials and devices aimed at addressing challenges within the medical field include applications for drug delivery, wound dressings, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and numerous others.
Coatings
Coatings can be deposited onto different materials or substrates to create new surface functionalities (e.g. hydrophilicity) or to create a barrier layer within a material (e.g. thermal barrier). Oftentimes coatings are used to modify a bulk material to change surface or exterior properties while maintaining the underlying bulk materials properties.