Research
CU researchers have created shape-shifting microparticles that change their shape in response to environmental factors for self-directed propulsion and navigation.
A CU Boulder team has invented a sound-wave technique that softens dense tumors so chemotherapy can penetrate more deeply. The discovery could boost treatment effectiveness and make cancer therapies safer for patients.
In the study recently published in the journal Nature, researchers developed a polymer coating that is nearly impermeable to gases, which could help prevent corrosion in solar panels and slow the aging of packaged food and medicines.
A new CU Boulder study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how electric fields control nanoparticle movement through porous materials, enabling independent control of speed and direction. This finding could advance nanorobot technologies for applications like tumor detection, drug delivery and environmental cleanup of toxic chemicals.
SPUR student Joshua Smith joined researchers in the Shields Lab to develop microrobots that actively deliver drugs to the lungs—an innovative approach that could transform treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The tiny particles could potentially help enhance drug distribution in human organs, improving the drug’s overall effectiveness, or aid in removing pollutants from contaminated environments.
Materials researchers are getting a big boost from a new database created by a team of researchers led by Professor Hendrik Heinz. The initiative, now available online to all researchers, is a database containing over 2,000 carbon nanotube stress-strain curves and failure properties.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to identify genetic changes that help oxygen-producing microbes survive in extreme environments.
Assistant Professor Ankur Gupta’s research on diffusiophoresis, where smaller particles move through a fluid, dragging larger particles with them, helps explain how this process may create clear biological patterns in nature, such as those seen on fish or a tiger's stripes.
Students from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering presented their research as part of the competitive NC State University Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering symposium this past October. Three students from the department were recognized as awardees.