Researchers at Drexel University’s College of Engineering have reported that fabric coated with a conductive, two-dimensional material called MXene, is highly effective at blocking electromagnetic waves and potentially harmful radiation. The discovery is a key development for efforts to weave technological capabilities into clothing and accessories.

New antennas so thin that they can be sprayed into place are also robust enough to provide a strong signal at bandwidths that will be used by fifth-generation (5G) mobile devices. Performance results for the antennas, which are made from a new type of two-dimensional material called MXene, were recently reported by researchers at Drexel University and could have rammifications for mobile, wearable and connected “internet of things” (IoT) technology.

 

As the sole undergraduate student co-chair of Drexel University’s Anti-Racism Task Force established in June, fourth-year engineering student Tianna Williams is making her voice heard and creating the change she wants to see on campus.

The program, which gives highly motivated first-year students the opportunity to conduct faculty-mentored undergraduate research, supported 101 students this summer with stipends and remote positions, plus more in-person opportunities planned for the upcoming academic year.

Drexel University will host more than 2,000 researchers from around the world for a virtual conference, Aug. 3-7, to share their work and learn about the latest discoveries related to MXene, an extraordinarily versatile family of two-dimensional materials first discovered and studied at Drexel in 2011. Held on the ninth anniversary of their discovery, the MXene Conference 2020 is the fourth international gathering focused exclusively on these materials and the first to be held in the United States.

As we welcome wireless technology into more areas of life, the additional electronic bustle is making for an electromagnetically noisy neighborhood. In hopes of limiting the extra traffic, researchers at Drexel University have been testing two-dimensional materials known for their interference-blocking abilities. Their latest discovery, reported in the journal Science, is of the exceptional shielding ability of a new two-dimensional material that can absorb electromagnetic interference rather than just deflecting back into the fray.

From snowflakes to quartz, nature’s crystalline structures form with a reliable, systemic symmetry. Researchers at Drexel University, who study the formation of crystalline materials, have shown that it’s now possible to control how crystals grow – including interrupting the symmetrical growth of flat crystals and inducing them to form hollow crystal spheres. The discovery is part of a broader design effort focused on the encapsulation of medicine for targeted drug treatments.

Drexel University researchers have discovered a different way to make the atom-thin material that presents a number of new opportunities for using it. The new discovery removes water from the MXene-making process, which means the materials can be used in applications in which water is a contaminant or hampers performance, such as battery electrodes and next-generation solar cells.

For more than a decade, two-dimensional nanomaterials, such as graphene, have been touted as the key to making better microchips, batteries, antennas and many other devices. But a significant challenge of using these atom-thin building materials for the technology of the future is ensuring that they can be produced in bulk quantities without losing their quality. For one of the most promising new types of 2D nanomaterials, MXenes, that’s no longer a problem. Researchers at Drexel University and the Materials Research Center in Ukraine have designed a system that can be used to make large quantities of the material while preserving its unique properties.

An international team of environmental and atmospheric scientists have pinpointed the chemical emissions that contribute the most to the harmful air quality conditions that are choking more and more cities and causing health problems and reducing agricultural production across the United States. The findings suggest that targeted policies could be more effective in limiting the formation of ground-level ozone, like smog, which contributes to tens of thousands of respiratory related deaths and nearly a billion dollars of crop loss each year.

A group of researchers led by Drexel University has demonstrated a method that allows scientists to experimentally measure how the chemical bonds of materials are altered when two different materials are linked together. This method provides an atomic layer-by-layer look at the materials’ electron configuration, which is the source of traits like conductivity and magnetism.

In the latest edition of Science, an international team of researchers, led by Drexel University professors Yury Gogotsi, PhD, and Ekaterina Pomerantseva, PhD, present a comprehensive analysis of two decades of energy storage research involving nanomaterials. The authors lay out a roadmap for how this technology can enable the world’s urgent shift toward better energy storage devices and sustainability.