Jingshan Du and Shuai Zhang, materials scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), were part of a team that co-edited a special issue of MRS Advances. The issue was inspired by a symposium co-organized by four of the co-editors at the Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall 2023 Meeting. The co-editors all collaborated on an introductory article, highlighting the work presented in the special issue.

“During the symposium, we realized that we needed a focused venue to share this work,” said Du. “We have an incredible community of researchers, including many early career scientists who have exciting results.”

The issue focuses on crystallization and assembly at interfaces, which is essential for applications ranging from developing next-generation energy storage devices to creating complex bio-compatible materials. The featured articles discuss advances in fundamental science and analytical techniques. There are five “Snapshot Reviews,” which are short review articles, and three original research articles. 

MRS Advances publishes short papers in research areas represented by active communities within MRS and for special issues edited by subject matter experts. These special issues highlight topic areas of interest in materials science. MRS Advances focuses on publishing up-to-date results in existing and emerging fields of materials science.

Du, a Washington Research Foundation postdoctoral fellow, studies molecular scale behavior at the interface between ice and water. His research focuses on the development of new high-resolution electron microscopy capabilities for ice and water dynamics and the fundamental pathways of ice crystallization and melting. Du recently attended the 73^rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting as one of five recipients of the Lindau Spirit Fellowship.

Zhang’s research seeks to develop design principles for biomolecular materials through assembly. He has a particular focus on using state-of-the-science scanning probe microscopies to understand the principles that govern assembly dynamics, structures, hierarchies, and functions. Zhang is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.