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Professor Michael D. McGehee and his team are advancing tandem solar cells—pairing silicon with a high-efficiency material called perovskite—that could significantly improve the economics of renewable energy. While the technology shows great promise, making perovskites durable enough for commercial use remains a key challenge. In October 2025, just as the research was gaining momentum, the Trump administration abruptly terminated the team’s federal grant.

Assistant Professor Wyatt Shields along with other researchers have developed a safer, targeted way to deliver an ovarian cancer drug using immune cell–carried particles, supported by $300,000 in Gates Institute funding to advance it toward clinical use.

Meet the department's newest faculty, Assistant Professors Cody Ritt and Antonio Del Rio Flores.

���� researchers have created shape-shifting microparticles that change their shape in response to environmental factors for self-directed propulsion and navigation.

A ���� 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 ���� 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.