Biodegradable electronics may advance with ability to control dissolve rate

Ankan Dutta on laptop

By Mariah Lucas

Biodegradable electronics allow for medical devices — such as drug delivery systems, pacemakers or neural implants — to safely degrade into materials that are absorbed by the body after they are no longer needed. But if the water-soluble devices degrade too quickly, they cannot accomplish their purpose. Now, researchers have developed the ability to control the dissolve rate of these biodegradable electronics by experimenting with dissolvable elements, like inorganic fillers and polymers, that encapsulate the device.

Nitin Samarth honored with Adler Lectureship Award from American Physical Society

Nitin Samarth

Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, has been selected to receive the American Physical Society’s 2024 David Adler Lectureship Award in the Field of Materials Physics. The award recognizes an outstanding contributor to the field of materials physics who is notable for high quality research, review articles, and lecturing. 

Combining materials may support unique superconductivity for quantum computing

Figure from research

By Gail McCormick

A new fusion of materials, each with special electrical properties, has all the components required for a unique type of superconductivity that could provide the basis for more robust quantum computing. The new combination of materials, created by a team led by researchers at Penn State, could also provide a platform to explore physical behaviors similar to those of mysterious, theoretical particles known as chiral Majoranas, which could be another promising component for quantum computing.