Natural Sciences - Materials Science

McGill researchers create shapeshifting materials that could power the next generation of soft robots.

We rely on batteries now more than ever, from our phones and laptops to electric vehicles. But the ones powering today's technologies aren't without their shortcomings. They can be expensive, flammable and they rely on increasingly in-demand materials that must be mined and processed.

Waterloo researchers rank among the most influential in the world.

McGill researchers develop a cheaper, safer material for use in solar panels, sensors and optical devices. Breakthrough, using 'nature's building blocks,' harnesses plant-virus proteins to create nanomaterials Using proteins from a common tobacco plant virus, McGill  chemistry  researchers have developed a simple, eco-friendly way to arrange gold nanoparticles into ultrathin sheets, strengthening the particles' optical properties.

Waterloo researchers rank among the top one per cent in the world.

Western engineers have amalgamated the function and force of photovoltaics (PV) technology with a heat pump and a thermal battery to create a fully electrified - and energy efficient - new house.