Materials Science and NanoEngineering

Growing pure nanotubes is a stretch, but possible

Rice engineers have a new strategy for making batches of carbon nanotubes with a single, desired chirality.

Rice wins Moore Foundation grant for quantum vacuum research

Junichiro Kono’s lab will study how matter and quantum vacuums become entangled thanks to a new grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Bacterial sensors send a jolt of electricity when triggered

Rice researchers develop programmable bacteria that sense contaminants and release an electronic signal in real time.

New catalyst can turn smelly hydrogen sulfide into a cash cow

Rice engineers and scientists and collaborators have discovered an efficient, one-step process for converting hydrogen sulfide gas into clean-burning hydrogen fuel.

People, papers and presentations for Oct. 24, 2022

Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering and the director of Rice’s Smalley-Curl Institute, touted the findings of a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office study on women inventors Oct. 19 in Houston as part of the Society of Women Engineers’ annual meeting.

NSF backs bid to speed environmental tests for viruses

The NSF backs Rice University efforts to speed the analysis of wastewater for coronaviruses from hours to seconds.

Wehmeyer team receives $1.5 million NSF grant

A team of researchers headed by Geoff Wehmeyer, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Rice, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program to support work on large-scale materials made from oriented carbon nanotubes.

Rice team eyes cells for sophisticated data storage

Rice University receives National Science Foundation support to turn living cells, starting with bacteria, into random-access memory devices. These will be able to store and report data about their environments.

2D boundaries could create electricity

Rice engineers lead study to create piezoelectricity in two-dimensional phase boundaries. They could power future nanoelectronics like sensors and actuators.

Smalley-Curl Institute rewards students’ summer research

The Smalley-Curl Institute held its annual Summer Research Colloquium Aug. 5.

Halas, Nordlander win prestigious Eni Energy Transition Award

Rice’s Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander have won the prestigious 2022 Eni Energy Transition Award.

Cherukuri named Rice University’s first vice president for innovation

Paul Cherukuri, the executive director of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, has been named Rice University’s first vice president for innovation. 

Ramesh named Rice University’s vice president for research

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, a condensed matter physicist and materials scientist with more than 25 years in academia, industry, national labs and government service, has been named Rice University’s vice president for research. 

Rice improves catalyst that destroys ‘forever chemicals’ with sunlight

Rice chemical engineers have improved their light-powered catalyst for destroying forever chemical PFOA.

Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real

Rice scientists create the first boron nitride nanotube fibers using the custom wet-spinning process they developed to make carbon nanotube fibers.