Materials Science and Engineering

Stanford scientists have developed inexpensive silicon-based electrodes that dramatically improve the charge storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

Stanford University scientists have dramatically improved the performance of lithium-ion batteries by creating novel electrodes made of silicon and conducting polymer hydrogel, a spongy substance similar to the material used in soft contact lenses and other household products.

Writing in the June 4 edition of the journal Nature Communications, the scientists describe a new technique for producing low-cost, silicon-based batteries with potential applications for a wide range of electrical devices.

Last modified Fri, 7 Jun, 2013 at 11:26

Congrats class of 2013!

Come celebrate your upcoming commencement with Stanford Engineering.

Join us in the SEQ on June 12 from 3-5 pm.

Enjoy some yummy ice cream and a pick up your senior gift -- a luggage tag for all those new adventures you're going to have!

Last modified Fri, 31 May, 2013 at 15:32

New synthetic nanoparticle could disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water and then get removed magnetically.

Among its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers. The hitch from a technical standpoint is that it is nearly impossible to reclaim the nanoscavengers once in the water.

Last modified Tue, 21 May, 2013 at 10:57

The School of Engineering China programs aim to enhance engineering education by providing undergraduate, co-term, master's, and PhD students with an opportunity to learn about China and to gain meaningful volunteer experience in a culturally diverse and international environment.

Last modified Thu, 9 May, 2013 at 16:13

Last modified Wed, 8 May, 2013 at 11:43

The new material's artificial "atoms" are designed to work with a broad range of light frequencies. With adjustments, the researchers believe it could lead to perfect microscope lenses or invisibility cloaks.

One of the exciting possibilities of metamaterials – engineered materials that exhibit properties not found in the natural world – is the potential to control light in ways never before possible. The novel optical properties of such materials could lead to a "perfect lens" that allows direct observation of an individual protein in a light microscope or, conversely, invisibility cloaks that completely hide objects from sight.

Last modified Mon, 6 May, 2013 at 14:58

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.

Last modified Fri, 3 May, 2013 at 15:12

Two faculty members at the School of Engineering join one of the country's oldest and most prestigious honorary learned societies.

Dave Dill, professor of computer science, and Arthur Bienenstock, professor emeritus of materials science and engineering, have been elected as members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. They join five other Stanford faculty in the academy's class of 2013.

Last modified Fri, 26 Apr, 2013 at 11:25

EdX will be available as an open source learning platform on June 1. In support of that move, Stanford will integrate features of its existing Class2Go open source online learning platform into the edX platform.

Stanford University will collaborate with edX, the nonprofit online learning enterprise founded by Harvard and MIT, to advance the development of edX's open source learning platform and continue to provide free and open online learning tools for institutions around the world.

Last modified Wed, 3 Apr, 2013 at 9:32

Scientists working at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) have improved an innovative solar-energy device to be about 100 times more efficient than its previous design in converting the sun's light and heat into electricity.

In a report last week in Nature Communications, the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) described how they improved a solar-energy device's efficiency from a few hundredths of a percent to nearly 2 percent, and said they expect to achieve at least another 10-fold gain in the future.

Last modified Thu, 28 Mar, 2013 at 13:10