Materials matter

In the world of Alexandra Navrotsky, it’s all about materials. 

Materials seen and materials invisible to the naked eye. Materials on the Earth’s surface and materials deep within the Earth’s core mantle. Materials mined from the moon and materials from planets in the solar systerm. Even materials from universes far beyond our own.  

The study of materials continues to change lives — from making cars more efficient, to reducing the greenhouse effect, to allowing rockets to soar in a safer way. And maybe one day, it will help us find another planet to inhabit. 

Ongoing materials research is essential for advancing technology. 

This is what excites Navrotsky, a professor at Arizona State University's School of Molecular Sciences and School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. So much so that she leads the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe and has bequeathed $10 million to support the future of materials science at ASU. 

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, deans, colleagues and students gathered for the official opening celebration of ASU’s Center for Materials of the Universe at the Biodesign Auditorium on the Tempe campus, which had been delayed due to the pandemic.

In the beginning

In 1969, ASU hired Navrotsky at a time when it was difficult for women working in the sciences to get faculty positions. 

After ASU, she worked at Princeton University and then the University of California, Davis. Over time, she was recognized as a world-renowned geochemist and received countless honors, medals and awards, including the prestigious V.M. Goldschmidt Award. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. 

But in the end, Navrotsky wanted to come back to ASU, a place she calls home. She returned in 2019. With that return came some soul searching.

“I asked myself a question,” said Navrotsky, who kicked off the celebration on Tuesday. “What can ASU do now that would be as exciting as those early days?”

The answer to that question became the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe.

What does she mean by materials of the universe? 

According to Navrotsky — everything. 

“It is an all encompassing term, but really in a way, materials are at the center of everything in the universe,” she said.

Alexandra Navrotsky, director of the Center for Materials of the Universe, speaks during its grand opening celebration on Sept. 13. Photo by Samantha Chow/ASU

Present successes and future plans

The celebration included a showcase of some of the center’s successes since its opening, as well as future plans. 

Qijun Hong, assistant professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, talked about his database and models for melting temperature prediction, which are the culmination of 10 years of research. 

The models allow scientists to rapidly screen, design and discover new materials that will survive extreme high temperatures and high pressure conditions with applications such as protective barriers for gas turbines and heat shields on aircrafts.

The future of his work will focus on creating a model that can determine the physical properties of any combination of elements on the periodic table in just three seconds. 

The center has also received funds from the National Science Foundation for a new lab that is “unlike any in the Western hemisphere,” said Kurt Leinenweber, associate research professional in the School of Molecular Sciences.

The lab, called FORCE — Facility for Open Research in a Compressed Environment — will be a one-of-a-kind, high-pressure facility where researchers can observe the impact of extreme pressures and discover new materials.  

After the morning presentations, attendees had the opportunity to tour the center’s lab facilities, and the celebration wrapped up with a reception at ASU’s ISTB4 building, where university leaders praised the work being done at the center.

“I think the exciting thing here is that Alex has brought together scientists and engineers and conceptualizers,'' said ASU President Michael Crow, who spoke via video. “And, in my mind … dreamers.”

He said that the work being done by the center is at the heart of where we are as a species.

“We've gotten to this point where our understanding of the universe, our understanding of the chemistry and of the physics, our understanding of the matter-energy relationships are such that, we're just leaping ahead in gaining a fundamental understanding of who we are, where we are, why we're here.” 

Top photo: Pieces of cubic boron nitride, the world’s second-hardest material, sit on a table at the Physical Sciences Building B on the Tempe campus during a lab tour on Sept. 13. Photo by Samantha Chow/Arizona State University