Mastering molecular disorder | MIT News
Some materials, including metals, are made up of atoms tightly packed in a lattice or crystal. These structures are very good at conducting electricity and their behavior is often relatively easy to predict. Other materials such as plastics and other polymers show a strong disruption of their structures. Adam Willard, Associate Professor of Chemistry at MIT, would like to shed light on these disordered structures. Using theoretical models and powerful supercomputers, he is developing ways to simulate the properties of these disordered materials and predict their behavior. This type of modeling could help researchers replace heavy and brittle silicon-based photovoltaic cells with lightweight and flexible alternatives made entirely of plastic. "Our interest is genuinely to understand the role of molecular perturbations in physical processes that are important in both biology and energy sciences," said Willard, who recently received a tenur
