IN FOCUS

	Free and Discounted MRS Memberships for Researchers in Developing Countries To better serve students and professionals from all technical and economic sectors of the worldwide materials community, individuals working or studying in developing countries are now eligible for discounted electronic MRS membership. Learn more about discounted membership for students and professionals living in developing countries.
	Science as Art Notecards Competition—Vote for Your Favorites! A spot on the cover of the popular MRS Science and Art Notecards is up for grabs, and we want YOU to help crown the winning images. On the MRS Facebook Page, you will find 30 pre-selected images from past Science as Art competitions, along with a description of the related science involved. Vote for your favorites by hitting the “like” button on the image. The 10 images with the most likes win! Voting Deadline—August 1, 2016
	Preregister and Save—MOF 2016 5th International Conference on Metal-Organic Frameworks & Open Framework Compounds September 11-15, 2016  |  Long Beach, California Preregistration Deadline—August 26, 2016

MATERIALS NEWS

Keep up with materials research news through MRS!
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Materials in Focus

Three-way shape memory behavior in a liquid crystal network
	While trying to develop epoxy resins with a low coefficient of thermal expansion for composites, scientists at Washington State University (WSU) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory went a step or two beyond their original goal. The result is an epoxy resin liquid crystal network (LCN) with azobenzene chromophores and reversible ester bonds that displays three-way shape memory behavior that can be triggered by heat or light.
Membranes mimic cactus-functioning to regulate water loss
	Water management in ion-conducting membranes is a critical issue for energy harvesting applications such as fuel cells and reverse electrodialysis. A group of researchers recently reported membranes coated with thin hydrophobic layers, patterned with nanometer-sized cracks. These “nanocracks” respond to external environmental stimuli of membrane swelling and humidity and act as ion/water selective nanovalves, thus regulating water loss. The way these nanocrack water channels operate is similar to the functioning of the cactus stomata control mechanism for water retention.
Mechanochromic devices reversibly change color, pattern, transparency with strain
	In recent years, mechanochromic devices—those that can change color or transparency when subjected to mechanical stimuli—have found use in a number of applications, such as strain sensors and smart windows. These devices, however, are not easily reversible and require high strain to change their properties.
Adaptive design loop ushers exploration of new materials
	Advanced materials discovery is essential to economic security, technological advance, and social welfare. However, it often takes a few decades from initial discovery to market due to challenges in finding the optimal materials properties for certain applications. The enormous degree of complexity in manipulating materials properties comes with countless “knobs” to turn when designing the experimental approach.
Nickelate perovskite improves fuel cells
	Perovskites have shaken up the photovoltaics field. Perovskite are materials with an ABX3 structure, and methylammonium, lead, and iodide have been the most common picks for the three components in photovoltaic perovskites. Now, researchers have found that nickel-based perovskites have exceptional properties for use as solid electrolytes in fuel cells. Unlike conventional electrolytes, these nickel-based perovskites are chemically stable in the fuel cell’s environment, which could lead to higher performing and longer lasting fuel cells.

People in Focus

Jacques I. Pankove died July 12, 2016
	Jacques I. Pankove, best known for his discovery of light-emitting diodes which transformed the world of luminescence, passed away on Tuesday July 12, 2016.

Industry Focus

Ford, Jose Cuervo and the future of waste-based materials
After years of experimenting with wheat straw-blend plastics and upholstery threaded with recycled PET bottles, Ford Motor Co. was in the market for other unconventional material feedstocks—a pursuit that led to a deal for a small-scale material research project using Jose Cuervo’s would-be agave waste.

Policy Focus

US DOE clean energy initiative designed to accelerate materials to market
Advanced materials solutions have the potential to revolutionize the energy landscape and tip the scales further toward clean energy technologies. One of the most significant hurdles in the advancement of clean energy lies in bringing innovative new products to market, a process that often takes longer than a decade.

Realizing the Potential of Quantum Information Science and Advancing High-Performance Computing
The Obama Administration reports on challenges, opportunities, and the path forward in quantum information science, and releases a plan for high-performance computing.

Science’s status shifts in new Brexit government
Three weeks after UK voters chose to leave the European Union, the country has a new prime minister, Theresa May—and a revamped administration that is poised to change science’s place in government.

First Greek science agency is rare source of joy for beleaguered researchers
A massive loan from the European Union’s investment bank gives Greek researchers their first ray of hope since the debt crisis hit six years ago: a government-backed plan to create a Greek research agency.


For more science policy news, follow @MaterialsSciPol


OF INTEREST TO THE MATERIALS COMMUNITY


Challenge prizes offer unique opportunities for materials innovation
Prizes that recognize groundbreaking discoveries and technological advancements are common in the scientific community; prizes that incentivize such work with millions of dollars are much less familiar in the physical sciences. A growing number of competitions have emerged over the past decade that offer a large cash prize to the person or team that can meet a challenge most efficiently or quickly. Many of these challenges are based on important global issues that have key materials components, and they provide intriguing opportunities for researchers to innovate and collaborate.

XPRIZE provides incentive for radical breakthroughs in innovation
The XPRIZE Foundation relies on the growing power of exponential technologies and revolutionary science to catalyze radical breakthroughs. By offering a suite of incentives, XPRIZE seeks to inspire the world’s scientists, technologists, and innovators to tackle seemingly intractable challenges.


MEETINGS UPDATE

Critical Meeting Deadlines

PUBLICATIONS UPDATE

News

Making the sustainable energy colloquy quantitative and accessible to all
The late David McKay, Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, helped to create a meaningful dialogue about what sustainability means, what it would take, and what policies would be needed. The editors of MRS Energy and Sustainability—A Review Journal—David S. Ginley, David Cahen, and Elizabeth A. Kócs—pay tribute to McKay and his influence on the journal.

Critical Publications Deadlines

JUST PUBLISHED

	An augmented numerical inverse method for determining the composition-dependent interdiffusivities in alloy systems by using a single diffusion couple
	Weimin Chen, Jing Zhong and Lijun Zhang, MRS Communications
	Dependence of confined plastic flow of polycrystalline Cu thin films on microstructure
	Yang Mu, Xiaoman Zhang, J.W. Hutchinson and W.J. Meng, MRS Communications
	Mixed micelles from synergistic self-assembly of hybrid copolymers with charge difference electrostatic interaction induced re-organization of micelles from hybrid copolymers
	Yiting Xu, Ying Cao, Jianjie Xie, Qi Li, Xianming Chen, Shiao-Wei Kuo and Lizong Dai, Journal of Materials Research
	Solution-processed P3HT-Functional Graphene for Efficient Heterojunction Organic Photoelectronics
	Jian Ye, Xueliang Li, Jianjun Zhao, Xuelan Mei and Qian Li, Journal of Materials Research

Bio Focus

	A video imaging method for time-dependent measurements of molecular mass transfer and biofilm dynamics in microchannels
	M. Parvinzadeh Gashti, M. Zarabadi and J. Greener, MRS Advances
	Biodegradable thermogelling polymers for biomedical applications
	Sing Shy Liow, Anis Abdul Karim, and Xian Jun Loh, MRS Bulletin
	Correlative multiscale tomography of biological materials,
	Robert S. Bradley and Philip J. Withers, MRS Bulletin
	Cryo-scanning transmission electron tomography of biological cells
	Michael Elbaum, Sharon G. Wolf, and Lothar Houben, MRS Bulletin

	U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program: Progress, Challenges and Future Directions
	Eric L Miller, Dimitrios Papageorgopoulos, Ned Stetson, Katie Randolph, David Peterson, Kim Cierpik-Gold, Adria Wilson, Vanessa Trejos, J Carlos Gomez, Neha Rustagi and Sunita Satyapal, MRS Advances

Nano Focus

	Self Powered Flexible Electronics Based on Self Poled “Ferroelectretic” Nanogenerator
	Sujoy Kumar Ghosh and Dipankar Mandal, MRS Advances
	Single versus successive pop-in modes in nanoindentation tests of single crystals
	Yuzhi Xia, Yanfei Gao, George M. Pharr and Hongbin Bei, Journal of Materials Research

SCIENCE AS ART

Ferric Bloom Dong-Chan Lee, Georgia Institute of Technology. The beauty of nature has been reproduced by the orchestra of nucleation and growth. Iron oxide flowers of two micron in diameter have been grown in a hydrothermal reactor, followed by acetylene treatment enlivening the leaves. A Second 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 August 2016 issue of MRS Bulletin

Auburn University
Tenure-track Faculty Position, Materials Engineering

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Staff Scientist, Materials Informatics

University of California, Los Angeles
Volgenau Chair in Engineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Science

NEW PRODUCTS FOCUS

New Finder Grids for TEM
	EM Resolutions is now supplying two new designs of finder grid which will help to improve the re-location of features of interest. Manufactured by Gilder Grids with unique crenelated grid bars to assist navigation, each grid is divided into blocks, either with a number or letter for ease of identification. The TG300F1 is based on a 300 mesh grid and uses blocks of 25 (5x5) grid cells bounded by crenelated bars. The TG400F1 is based on a finer 400 mesh grid using blocks of 36 (6x6) grid cells bounded by thicker crenelated grid bars. Available in copper, nickel and gold, the new grids can also be coated with a holey or lacey carbon support film. Contact: [email protected] or 44-1799-522500
New Circular Sputtering Source
	The Kurt J. Lesker Company® announces the release of our newest magnetron design—the Torus® Mag KeeperTM UHV compatible circular magnetron sputtering source. These sources have been specially designed to meet the requirements of the R&D community for a user-friendly source that fits a broad range of applications. With a quick target change feature, enhanced “patent pending” cooling design, low operating pressure capability, and reduced overall footprint, the Mag Keeper design is geared to provide the enhanced performance and flexibility each process requires. In addition, the source is engineered with no O-rings and all ceramic insulators, making it a UHV compatible design option. For magnetic film deposition, the Mag Keeper offers enhanced high strength magnet options for sputtering up to 3mm thick Fe. Contact: [email protected] or 412-387-9200

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

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