Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

芝加哥大学材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）支持在三个跨学科研究小组和探索性种子项目中开展的广泛研究计划，以及广泛的教育活动，包括与芝加哥地区公立学校外展的K-8科学伙伴计划。该中心正在通过与芝加哥科学技术博物馆的新合作伙伴关系提高公众对材料科学的认识。该中心支持维护良好的共享实验设施，这些设施可供外部用户使用，并支持与工业和其他部门的互动努力。三个跨学科研究小组中的一个正在探索超小型结构的自组装。感兴趣的材料包括聚合物薄膜、胶体和半导体纳米晶体。第二组正在对固体的某些物理性质进行实验和理论研究，这对提高对物质凝聚态的理解具有广泛的意义。这些性质包括复杂系统的量子相、跃迁和涨落。感兴趣的材料包括无序铁磁体、有机导体和导电聚合物。第三组研究颗粒状材料和液体的宏观运动。这些问题的潜在应用可以在高速公路和水坝的建设、粮食和煤炭的运输、喷墨打印机的设计、湍流、雪崩和气泡的形成中找到。分子覆盖层的种子倡议研究了分子覆盖层表面特性的基本问题，包括自组装单层。生物界面科学的第二个种子倡议涉及了解生物环境中界面的特性。这些知识对于植入物的设计，细胞培养和保存，以及结合生物和工程组件的传感器的构建都是重要的。中心现有高级研究员26人，博士后7人，研究生20人，本科生14人，技术人员及其他辅助人员9人。Steven J. Sibener教授是MRSEC的负责人。

9808595SibenerThe Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Chicago supports a broad research program carried out in three interdisciplinary research groups and exploratory seed projects, as well as a wide range of educational activities, including the K-8 Partners in Science Program with outreach to Chicago area public schools. The Center is raising public awareness of materials science through a new partnership with Chicago's Museum of Science and Technology. The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities, which are accessible to outside users and also supports interactive efforts with industry and other sectors. One of the three interdisciplinary research groups is exploring the self-assembly of ultra-small structures. The materials of interest include polymer films, colloids, and semiconductor nanocrystals. A second group is carrying out experimental and theoretical studies of certain physical properties of solids with broad implications for an improved understanding of the condensed state of matter. The properties include quantum phases, transitions, and fluctuations of complex systems. The materials of interest include disordered ferromagnets, organic conductors and conducting polymers. The third group studies macroscopic motion in granular materials and liquids. Potential applications of these problems can be found in the construction of highways and dams, movement of grain and coal, design of ink jet printers, turbulence, avalanches, and bubble formation. A seed initiative on molecular overlayers examines fundamental issues in the surface properties of molecular overlayers, including self-assembled monolayers. A second seed initiative on bio-interfacial science is concerned with understanding the properties of interfaces in biological environments. This knowledge is important for the design of implants, cell culture and preservation, and the construction of sensors that combine biological and engineered components. Participants in the Center currently include 26 senior investigators, 7 postdoctoral associates, 20 graduate students, 14 undergraduates, and 9 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Steven J. Sibener directs the MRSEC.