Mechanical Engineering: Research Guide

Immunotherapy has emerged in recent years as a new cancer treatment that is gentler than traditional chemotherapy and causes milder side effects in patients. However, conventional dendritic cell (DC) immunotherapy shows inconsistent clinical outcomes, and the cell culture process remains complex and costly.

For more than 50 years, scientists have sought alternatives to silicon for building molecular electronics. The vision was elegant; the reality proved far more complex. Within a device, molecules behave not as orderly textbook entities but as densely interacting systems where electrons flow, ions redistribute, interfaces evolve, and even subtle structural variations can induce strongly nonlinear responses. The promise was compelling, yet predictive control remained elusive.

Professor Joongoo Kang's team from the Department of Physics and Chemistry at DGIST and Professor Sohee Jeong's team from the Department of Energy Science at Sungkyunkwan University have developed a technology that visualizes the synthetic reaction pathways of semiconductor nanocrystals (colloidal quantum dots) using artificial intelligence (AI).

Lignin is the most abundant renewable aromatic polymer in nature. Its conversion into high value-added chemicals or materials is essential for biomass valorization and sustainable development. Nanozymes, which combine the catalytic efficiency of natural enzymes with the stability of nanomaterials, offer a highly promising green approach for lignin degradation.

Tiny tubes of carbon that emit single photons from just one point along their length have been made in a deterministic manner by RIKEN researchers. Such carbon nanotubes could form the basis of future quantum technologies based on light.

Graphene is often described as a wonder material. It is strong, electrically conductive, thermally efficient, and remarkably versatile. Yet despite more than a decade of excitement, many graphene-based technologies still struggle to move beyond the laboratory.

Researchers have developed a powerful computational framework that shows how carefully optimized nanotube shapes can amplify electromagnetic field concentration by more than 30 times compared to conventional circular nanotubes. This breakthrough opens new pathways for high-performance nanophotonic devices, sensors, and metasurfaces.

Over the past decade, colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as promising materials for next-generation displays due to their tunable emission, high brightness, and compatibility with low-cost solution processing. However, a major challenge is achieving ultrahigh-resolution patterning without damaging their fragile surface chemistry. Existing methods such as inkjet printing and photolithography-based processes either fall short in resolution or compromise QD performance.

A research team affiliated with UNIST has made a advancement in controlling spin-based signals within a new magnetic material, paving the way for next-generation electronic devices. Their work demonstrates a method to reversibly switch the direction of spin-to-charge conversion, a key step toward ultra-fast, energy-efficient spintronic semiconductors that do not require complex setups or strong magnetic fields.

Plastics are not inert: they gradually break into fragments over time, forming micro- and then nanoplastics (i.e., particles

A way to electrically modify the chirality of organic–inorganic hybrid materials, in which chiral molecules adsorb onto inorganic surfaces, has been demonstrated by researchers at Science Tokyo. By using an electric double-layer transistor with a chiral electrolyte, specific chirality was imposed on an otherwise achiral molybdenum disulfide surface. This reversible method enables tunable chiral electronic states and opens new possibilities for advanced spintronic devices and the emerging field of "chiral iontronics."

The rapid accumulation of plastic waste is currently posing significant risks for both human health and the environment on Earth. A possible solution to this problem would be to recycle plastic waste, breaking it into smaller molecules that can be used to produce valuable chemicals.

When disease begins forming inside the human body, something subtle happens long before symptoms appear. Individual molecules such as DNA, RNA, peptides, or proteins begin shifting in quantity or shape. Detecting these tiny molecular changes early could dramatically change how cancer, infections, and other conditions are diagnosed.

A breakthrough development in nanofabrication could help support the development of new wireless, flexible, high-performance transparent electronic devices.

A team of researchers at UNIST, in collaboration with the University of Cologne and Purdue University, has unveiled a rapid, sustainable method to create complex nanomaterials containing up to 30 different metals in just one minute at room temperature.

Researchers from CIC nanoGUNE, in collaboration with the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and the Center for Materials Physics (CFM), have experimentally observed and theoretically verified flat-band ultrastrong coupling between optical phonons and surface plasmon polaritons. Published in Nature Materials, the study reveals a previously unexplored regime of light–matter interaction with potential applications in polariton-driven chemistry, materials science, nanophotonics, and quantum engineering.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers and scientists, in collaboration with Stanford University, have demonstrated a breakthrough 3D nanofabrication approach that transforms two-photon lithography (TPL) from a slow, lab-scale technique into a wafer-scale manufacturing tool without sacrificing submicron precision.

In physics and materials science, the term "spin chirality" refers to an asymmetry in the arrangement of spins (i.e., the intrinsic angular momentum of particles) in magnetic materials. This asymmetry can give rise to unique electronic and magnetic behaviors that are desirable for the development of spintronics, devices that leverage the spin of electrons and electric charge to process or store information.

MXenes (pronounced like the name "Maxine") are a class of two-dimensional materials, first identified just 14 years ago, with remarkable potential for energy storage, catalysts, ultrastrong lightweight composites, and a variety of other purposes ranging from electromagnetic shielding to ink that can carry a current.

Researchers in the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have developed a pioneering computational model that could expedite the use of nanomaterials in biomedical applications. The study presented the first generalizable machine-learning framework capable of predicting how proteins interact with ligand-stabilized gold nanoclusters, materials widely employed in bioimaging, biosensing, and targeted drug delivery.

At this year's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM 2025), imec, a research and innovation hub in advanced semiconductor technologies, presents the first successful wafer-scale fabrication of solid-state nanopores using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Solid-state nanopores are emerging as powerful tools for molecular sensing but haven't been commercialized yet. This proof of concept is a crucial step toward their cost-effective (mass) production.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), a large class of synthetic chemicals, are valued for their ability to withstand heat, water, and oil. These materials are used in the production of everyday as well as industrial items. PFAS molecules are made up of a chain of carbon and fluorine atoms linked together.

Zoom in far enough on an empress cicada wing, and a strange landscape materializes. At the nanoscale, densely packed spires rise from the surface, covering the wing in an endless grove of bowling pins.

Flexible perovskite solar modules (f-PSMs) are a key innovation in current renewable energy technology, offering a pathway toward sustainable and efficient energy solutions. However, ensuring long-term operational stability without compromising efficiency or increasing material costs remains a critical challenge.

Metal nanostructures can concentrate light so strongly that they can trigger chemical reactions. The key players in this process are plasmons—collective oscillations of free electrons in the metal that confine energy to extremely small volumes. A new study published in Science Advances now shows how crucial adsorbed molecules are in determining how quickly these plasmons lose their energy.

An international research team reports the discovery of "hidden order" in systems that are disordered in space and time. The paper is published in the journal Nature Materials.

A collaborative team has developed a new way to create magnetic optical materials, one that removes a long-standing design bottleneck and could boost the speed and efficiency of data-center communications. Using an ion beam sputtering technique, the team fabricated nanoscale, labyrinth-like magnetic patterns that form reliably regardless of the underlying substrate strain.

When most people see a leafhopper in their backyard garden, they notice little more than a tiny green or striped insect flicking from leaf to leaf. But these insects are actually master engineers, capable of building some of the most complex natural nanostructures known, which makes them invisible to many of their predators. Their secret lies in brochosomes: tiny, hollow nanostructures that leafhoppers naturally produce and coat themselves with.

At the heart of every camera is a sensor, whether that sensor is a collection of light-detecting pixels or a strip of 35-millimeter film. But what happens when you want to take a picture of something so small that the sensor itself has to shrink down to sizes that cause the sensor's performance to crater?

For much of my career, I have been fascinated by the ways in which materials behave when we reduce their dimensions to the nanoscale. Over and over, I've learned that when we shrink a material down to just a few nanometers in thickness, the familiar textbook rules of physics begin to bend, stretch, or sometimes break entirely. Heat transport is one of the areas where this becomes especially intriguing, because heat is carried by phonons—quantized vibrations of the atomic lattice—and phonons are exquisitely sensitive to spatial confinement.