****Nontechnical abstract**** The New York University MRSEC investigates the pathways by which molecules and particles can be organized into materials. One approach emphasizes the role of processing and harnesses new insights that organization need not be orderly, that disorder need not be purely random, and that the materials arising from random organization across multiple scales can have properties surpassing those of crystals. Another seeks to elucidate the mechanisms by which complex molecules crystallize and how defects in crystals can regulate their growth. These activities unite scientists, engineers and mathematicians in an effort to explore materials from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. Their goal is to understand and improve the properties of materials such as food, ceramics, cements, pharmaceutical formulations, organic displays, solar cells, and a host of other technologies, with an eye toward optimizing mechanical strength and fracture resistance, improving the transport of electrons, light or heat, and stabilizing therapeutic agents. The NYU MRSEC operates several programs that benefit K-12 students and the New York City community, exposing students and teachers to materials science concepts, providing summer research programs for high school students, delivering materials science lessons and teacher training on a mobile laboratory, and producing broadcast-quality science videos. The MRSEC operates a summer research program for visiting undergraduates and faculty, largely from four-year colleges and minority-serving institutions. The MRSEC contributes to the acquisition and operation of state-of-the-art instrumentation facilities, including several electron, optical, and holographic microscopies that provide unique capabilities for users at NYU and beyond. The Center expands its impact through a network of national and international collaborators, as well as technology partners and entrepreneurial activities.
The NYU MRSEC unites six NYU Departments and collaborators from key institutions in a project that revolves around two interdisciplinary research groups: Random Organization of Disordered Materials (IRG 1) and Molecular Crystal Growth Mechanisms (IRG 2). IRG 1 investigates how systems driven out of equilibrium evolve towards absorbing states in which dynamic rearrangement ceases, exploring the structures and correlations that arise in granular, multicomponent and active materials under external and internal driving, particularly those of the absorbing states. A key goal is the optimization of material properties such as yield strength and photonic band structure, and the development of active materials such as optically reconfigurable colloids and active extensile viscoelastic liquids. IRG 2 investigates the fundamental science of molecular crystal growth, an area of vital interest for pharmaceuticals, organic electronics, and other technologies. The IRG advances the understanding of essential aspects of crystal growth science and engineering, investigating nucleation, dislocation generation and structure, multi-step assembly at the unit cell level, and origins of non-classical morphologies in molecular crystals. IRG 2 combines theoretical modeling, computer simulation, and experiment to develop predictive models of crystal structure and free energy and to investigate the dynamic aspects of crystal growth.
