Nanomaterials Institute at Drexel U. opens

The ribbons have been cut on the new A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, a recent release from Drexel University announced.

The 7,400-square-foot laboratory is intended to advance interdisciplinary fundamental and applied research of the two-dimensional layered material called MXene, discovered at Drexel.

The new laboratory can accommodate more than 50 researchers and features equipment for the synthesis, characterization and electrochemical testing of materials. Inside the lab are four large, sealed, glove boxes for handling air-sensitive materials like lithium; new high-temperature furnaces that reach 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit; advanced spectrometers and battery testing equipment; three times the number of chemical fume hoods in the former Gogotsi lab; and convenient working spaces for College of Engineering (CoE) faculty, students and visiting researchers.

Research in the lab will focus primarily on MXenes, oxide materials, and carbons for electrochemical energy storage, as well as water desalination. Materials for health care, sensing and other applications will also be explored.

CoE Dean Sharon L. Walker, PhD, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “MXenes could be the key to building smaller, faster electronics and improving energy storage devices; . . . advancing technology for wearable electronics and the internet of things; and providing advances in biomedicine for brain electrodes, wearable kidneys, and cancer treatment,” she said.