IN FOCUS

	CALL FOR NOMINATIONS—TWO NEW MRS AWARDS MRS announces two new additions to its Awards portfolio—the MRS Impact Award, and the MRS Woody White Service Award. Nominations for both inaugural awards are now being accepted. More information, including descriptions and nomination guidelines, can be found at www.mrs.org/awards.     Nomination Deadline—August 1, 2016
	Join or Renew Your Membership with MRS! Now is an important time to ensure your membership is in good standing. Why? Because election of the 2017 MRS Officers and Board of Directors opens early August. Election rules require active membership status. Only members paid in full by 11:59 pm (ET), June 30, 2016 will be considered eligible to vote in the Election.                 Of course, there are countless other reasons to be an MRS member. For a full list of membership benefits, visit www.mrs.org/member-benefits. Join or renew today at www.mrs.org/membership.
	New Focus Issue of Journal of Materials Research (JMR) now available online! Advanced Materials and Structures for Solar Fuels June 2016, Volume 31, Issue 11 Remember—online access to JMR, and all MRS publications, is FREE to MRS Members all year long. Just log in with your MRS username and password.

MATERIALS NEWS

Keep up with materials research news through MRS!
Materials360 Online  |  RSS feed  |  Twitter feed

Materials in Focus

Heat-induced metal migration damages perovskite solar cells
	Although perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are less expensive, easier to manufacture, and more efficient than most modern alternatives, their propensity to lose efficiency makes commercialization something of a mystery. Now, a team from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has demonstrated how metal contacts in the cells are one culprit behind this degradation.
Recycling Li batteries could soon make economic sense
	Twenty-five years after Sony launched the first commercial Li-ion battery in 1991, the rechargeable battery has found its way into billions of smartphones, laptops, and other devices.

People in Focus

Arthur J. Freeman, first MRS Medalist, dies at 86
	Arthur J. Freeman, who received the first MRS Medal (1990) for pioneering the field of hydrothermal synthesis of ceramic materials, passed away on June 7, at the age of 86. He served as the first associate director of the National Magnet Laboratory (NML) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then later served as chair of Northwestern University’s physics department.

Materials research promoted in US FY 2017 budget request
President Barack Obama’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2017, presented on February 9, 2016, pursues increases in materials research over the enacted FY 2016 budget across the entire domestic science and technology portfolio, notably for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In marked contrast, however, the president’s budget request could cut funding for research for the Department of Defense, with significant cuts for basic research. Following is the breakdown as compared to enacted FY 2016 budgets.

Dismay and uncertainty in scientific circles after UK votes to leave EU
The UK vote to exit Europe has left the science community facing an uncertain future. Many scientists have expressed concerns about the challenges such an exit will now present, but those who backed ‘Brexit’ claim science will be unaffected in the long term.

China overtakes U.S. supercomputing lead
A new supercomputer at China’s National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi in Jiangsu province, called the Sunway TaihuLight, has a peak performance of 93 Pflop/s. That is nearly three times the performance of its closest competitor, Tianhe-2, another Chinese supercomputer, and nearly 2 million times faster than a standard laptop. More important, for the first time China has overtaken the United States as the country with the largest installed supercomputing capacity.

Global R&D trends challenge traditional science powerhouses
The US remains the single largest funder of research and development (R&D) in the world, but emerging trends show the global science funding landscape is becoming more diverse, according to new analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

For more science policy news, follow @MaterialsSciPol


OF INTEREST TO THE MATERIALS COMMUNITY


The geopolitics of energy: Will a boom follow today’s bust in energy prices?
Energy prices are cyclical—history is replete with examples. Booms follow busts, rinse and repeat. The high prices of 2014, around USD$100/barrel, dipped to less than USD$30/barrel in late 2015 and are now beginning to recover. But the boom–bust cycle of oil prices has found a new normal, driven by materials breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and fracking.

Graphene isn’t the only Lego in the materials-science toy box
You may have heard of graphene, a sheet of pure carbon, one atom thick, that’s all the rage in materials-science circles, and getting plenty of media hype as well. In the current world of nano-electronics, there is a lot more going on than just graphene. One material, molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂), is a one-layer material with interesting properties beyond those of graphene. 


MEETINGS UPDATE

Critical Meeting Deadlines

PUBLICATIONS UPDATE

Critical Publications Deadlines

JUST PUBLISHED

	An integral equation based domain decomposition method for solving large-size substrate-supported aperiodic plasmonic array platforms Shifei Tao, Jierong Cheng and Hossein Mosallaei, MRS Communications
	Development of thermally stable and moldable chalcogenide glass for flexible infrared lenses Ju Hyeon Choi, Du-Hwan Cha, Jeong-Ho Kim and Hye-Jeong Kim, Journal of Materials Research
	Discovery and application of exemplary models of innovation Stephen J. Eglash and Sarah M. Rizk, MRS Bulletin
	Synchrotron-based high-pressure research in materials science Bin Chen, Jung-Fu Lin, Jiuhua Chen, Hengzhong Zhang, and Qiaoshi Zeng, MRS Bulletin

Energy Focus

	II-VI Material Integration with Silicon for Detector and PV Applications T.A. Gessert, E. Colegrove, B. Stafford, R. Kodama, Wei Gao, H.R. Moutinho, D. Kuciauskas, R.C. Reedy, T.M. Barnes and S. Sivananthan, MRS Advances
	Efficiency enhancement via metal-coated porous amorphous silicon back reflectors incorporated in amorphous silicon solar cells Shweta Bhandaru, Angelo Bozzola, Marco Liscidini and Sharon M. Weiss, MRS Communications
	Graphene oxide nanocomposites for potential wearable solar cells – A review Raul Simões and Victor Neto, Journal of Materials Research
	Innovative Approaches to Addressing the Fundamental Materials Challenges in Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Eric L. Miller, Katie Randolph, David Peterson, Neha Rustagi, Kim Cierpik-Gold, Ben Klahr and J Carlos Gomez , MRS Advances
	Recent progress in flexible energy storage materials for lithium-ion batteries and electrochemical capacitors: A Review Zhiyu Wang, Weike Zhang, Xuelian Li and Lizhen Gao,  Journal of Materials Research
	Synchrotron-based x-ray absorption spectroscopy for energy materials Xiaosong Liu and Tsu-Chien Weng, MRS Bulletin
	Thin Epitaxial Silicon Foils Using Porous-Silicon-Based Lift-Off for Photovoltaic Application Twan Bearda, Ivan Gordon, Hariharsudan Sivaramakrishnan Radhakrishnan, Valérie Depauw, Kris Van Nieuwenhuysen, Menglei Xu, Loic Tous, Miha Filipič, Shashi Kiran Jonnak, Alireza Hajijafarassar, Xingyu Liu, Maarten Debucquoy, Yaser Abdulraheem, Jozef Szlufcik and Jef Poortmans, MRS Advances

SCIENCE AS ART

Seeking the Light Xin Yin, University of Wisconsin-Madison In the morning, the green clovers wake up in the bright sunshine. This is from a high resolution SEM image of zinc oxide "nano-clovers" synthesized by chemical vapor deposition technique. A First Place Winner in the Science as Art competition at the 2016 MRS Spring Meeting. Copyright for all Science as Art images belongs to the Materials Research Society. To request permission to re-use the images, please contact Anita Miller.

EDITOR'S CHOICE VIDEO

CAREER CENTRAL

Partial listing of classified ads from the July 2016 issue of MRS Bulletin

Auburn University
Tenure-track Faculty Position, Materials Engineering

Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Dean, School of Engineering

University of Central Florida
Tenure-track Faculty Position, Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center

NEW PRODUCTS FOCUS

Next Generation of Personal Flow Cytometry
	BD Biosciences recently introduced the next generation of personal flow cytometry with the BD Accuri™ C6 Plus flow cytometer. This new cytometer retains the dynamic range, ease of use, compact size, and affordability as the BD Accuri™ C6 flow cytometer, while adding enhancements and improvements in optics, automation, and streamlined workflow. The optical system demonstrates extraordinary fluorescence sensitivity. A new Instrument QC feature automates daily validation using BD™ Cytometer Setup and Tracking (CS&T) RUO beads to ensure that the instrument meets performance specifications, and automatically updates compensation settings for popular fluorochromes. The BD Accuri C6 Plus truly brings “flow cytometry within reach™” for new applications and new flow cytometry users. Contact: [email protected] or 877-232-8995
High Speed Stop Motion Infrared Imaging
	FLIR Systems has introduced the new FLIR X6900sc as the world's fastest 640 x 512 pixel resolution thermal camera for high-speed science applications. The new thermal imager is designed to record 1000 fps at full resolution onto the camera's RAM for up to 26 seconds. Whether measuring temperatures on fast moving objects or characterizing the thermal transient of objects as they heat up, this new camera offers the rapid frame speed, high resolution, and thermal sensitivity required to virtually stop motion enabling accurate temperature readings, and recording of gradients across the entire frame. With advanced triggering and synchronization, a secure solid state storage drive, and four-position motorized filter wheel, the FLIR X6900sc offers the perfect blend of high speed visible camera features with the latest in FLIR infrared technology. Contact: [email protected] or 32-3665-5100

To suggest items for inclusion in Industry News and New Products Focus,
please contact Mary Kaufold at 724-779-2755.

ABOUT MATERIALS360^®

Materials360 is edited by Judy Meiksin, News Editor, and produced by Joe Yzquierdo, Electronic Communications Assistant, Materials Research Society.

• To unsubscribe, please go to My MRS or email [email protected]. Materials360 sponsorships are available by contacting Mary E. Kaufold at 724-779-2755 — Reach over 65,000 materials professionals.
• This message is being sent to you as a service of the Materials Research Society.
  506 Keystone Drive, Warrendale, PA, 15086-7537, USA
  Phone: 724-779-3003 | Fax: 724-779-8313 | [email protected]

Not a current MRS member? It's never too late to join or renew! This e-mail may be forwarded to anyone interested. We welcome reproduction of the content of this e-mail electronically or in print with credit and acknowledgement of MRS as follows:

© Reproduced with permission of the Materials Research Society (MRS) [www.mrs.org]

© Materials Research Society, 2016. All rights reserved.