McGill Institute for Advanced Materials - Supporting and promoting the field of advanced materials at McGill /miam/articles/rss en New insights into Zebra mussel attachment fibers offer potential solutions to combat invasive species, develop sustainable materials /miam/article/new-insights-zebra-mussel-attachment-fibers-offer-potential-solutions-combat-invasive-species <p>A recent study from researchers in Canada and Germany has revealed that an unlikely event, occurring over 12 million years ago , played an important role in shaping one of Canada’s most damaging invasive species.</p> Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:41:02 +0000 Chloe Hedley 6407 at /miam Visualizing how polarons form in the best thermoelectric material yet developed /miam/article/visualizing-how-polarons-form-best-thermoelectric-material-yet-developed <p>Thermoelectrics can generate electrical power from waste heat and could make an important contribution to sustainable energy production if their efficiency is improved. Engineering efficient thermoelectrics, however, requires a sophisticated understanding of the fundamental interdependencies between electrical and thermal transport, for which improvements in our understanding of how charge carriers are coupled to lattice vibrations (phonons) is needed.</p> Fri, 06 May 2022 18:02:35 +0000 Bradley Siwick 5896 at /miam Synthetic tissue can repair hearts, muscles, and vocal cords /miam/article/synthetic-tissue-can-repair-hearts-muscles-and-vocal-cords <p>Combining knowledge of chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering, scientists from 㽶Ƶ develop a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202102627">biomaterial</a> tough enough to repair the heart, muscles, and vocal cords, representing a major advance in regenerative medicine.</p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 17:05:13 +0000 “Injectable, pore-forming, perfusable double-network hydrogels resilient to extreme biomechanical stimulations” by Sareh Taheri, Guangyu Bao, Zixin He, Sepideh Mohammadi, Hossein Ravanbakhsh, Larry Lessard, Jianyu Li, and Luc Mongeau was published in Adva 5760 at /miam McGill’s Hanadi Sleiman wins 2021 Polanyi Award /miam/article/mcgills-hanadi-sleiman-wins-2021-polanyi-award <p><a href="/chemistry/faculty/hanadi-sleiman">Hanadi Sleiman</a>, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in DNA Nanoscience, has transformed the field of DNA nanotechnology and revolutionized precise medical treatments for major diseases, like cancer – and she has just earned national recognition for her research.</p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 17:10:14 +0000 McGill Newsroom 5761 at /miam How mussels make a powerful underwater glue News /miam/article/how-mussels-make-powerful-underwater-glue-news <p><i>The mussels’ beards (which cooks remove before preparing them) are made up of byssal threads and are used to help keep the mussels tethered in place. At the end of each thread is a disc-shaped plaque that acts as an underwater glue. The unusual qualities of the glue and the byssal threads have interested people since </i><i>ancient times, when the threads of certain species were </i><i>woven into luxurious berets, purses, gloves, and stockings. </i><i>M</i><i>ore recently, scientists have developed underwater adhesives and surgical glues inspired by byssal thread chemistry.</i></p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 16:43:09 +0000 Tobias Priemel et al in Science DOI: doi/10.1126/science.abi9702 5757 at /miam Unbreakable glass inspired by seashells News /miam/article/unbreakable-glass-inspired-seashells-news <p>Scientists from 㽶Ƶ develop stronger and tougher glass, inspired by the inner layer of mollusk shells. Instead of shattering upon impact, the new material has the resiliency of plastic and could be used to improve cell phone screens in the future, among other applications.</p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 16:50:37 +0000 "Centrifugation and index-matching yields a strong and transparent bioinspired nacreous composite" by Ali Amini, Adele Khavari, Francois Barthelat, and Allen J. Ehrlicher was published in Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf0277 5758 at /miam Lighting the way to improved biomaterials /miam/article/lighting-way-improved-biomaterials <p>Researchers from 㽶Ƶ believe that they have found a way to improve the development of biomaterials that could be instrumental in drug delivery, tissue regeneration, nano-optics and nanoelectronics.</p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 17:01:43 +0000 “A dissipative pathway for the structural evolution of DNA fibres” by Hanadi Sleiman and al., was published in Nature Chemistry. 5759 at /miam Surgical sutures inspired by human tendons /miam/article/surgical-sutures-inspired-human-tendons <p>Sutures are used to close wounds and speed up the natural healing process, but they can also complicate matters by causing damage to soft tissues with their stiff fibers. To remedy the problem, researchers from Montreal have developed innovative tough gel sheathed (TGS) sutures inspired by the human tendon.</p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 19:29:23 +0000 “Bioinspired tough gel sheath for robust and versatile surface functionalization” published in Science Ad 5762 at /miam What do breast cancer cells feel inside the tumour? /miam/article/what-do-breast-cancer-cells-feel-inside-tumour-0 <p>Using a new technique, a team of 㽶Ƶ researchers has found tiny and previously undetectable ‘hot spots’ of extremely high stiffness inside aggressive and invasive breast cancer tumours. Their findings suggest, for the first time, that only very tiny regions of a tumor need to stiffen for metastasis to take place. Though still in its infancy, the researchers believe that their technique may prove useful in detecting and mapping the progression of aggressive cancers.<br /> <br /></p> Mon, 07 Feb 2022 16:05:26 +0000 McGill Newsroom 5756 at /miam MIAM members channeling their research efforts towards the fight against COVID-19 /miam/article/miam-members-channeling-their-research-efforts-towards-fight-against-covid-19 <p>In response to the COVID-19 crisis, MIAM members are rising up to the challenge through innovative research in the areas of:</p> <p> </p> <ul> <li>Rapid testing for early detection of COVID-19 (Prof. Andrew Kirk)</li> <li>Antiviral materials and surfaces (Prof. Marta Cerruti)</li> <li>Technique of microscopy regarding virus cells (Prof. Raynald Gauvin)</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>To find out more details, read the full story <a href="/engineering/article/developing-vaccine-creating-antiviral-materials-six-engineering-professors-are-channeling-their">here</a>.</p> Mon, 01 Jun 2020 16:39:28 +0000 wenrui.duan@mcgill.ca 5131 at /miam