W. Craig Carter

About

W. Craig Carter is the Toyota Professor in Materials Processing and a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. His research focuses on the application of theoretical and computational materials science to microstructural evolution and the relationships between material properties and microstructure. He emphasizes the physical analysis of complex processes and the development of numerical algorithms and codes for microstructural simulation. In recent years, his interests have included the science of battery materials and the electro-chemo-mechanics of phase transitions and fracture of battery electrodes. Professor Carter received all his degrees in materials science from the University of California, Berkeley, earning a PhD in 1989. He has worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Rockwell Science Center before joining MIT in 1998. His notable contributions include developing a flow battery utilizing co-suspensions of solid-state electrodes and electronically conductive particulates, and co-founding the company 24M to produce grid-scale energy storage systems. He has collaborated with other researchers and institutions, including projects with MIT Media Lab's Neri Oxman that incorporate materials science, natural design, and mythology, with some of their work being exhibited and included in major museum collections. His research has also contributed to the development of continuum models of polycrystals, notably producing the widely…

Research topics

• Composite material
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Metallurgy
• Engineering
• Geometry
• Mathematics
• Physical chemistry
• Forensic engineering
• Structural engineering

Selected publications

• Semi-solid alkali metal electrodes enabling high critical current densities in solid electrolyte batteries

  Nature Energy · 2021 · 137 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Controlling dendrite propagation in solid-state batteries with engineered stress

  Joule · 2022 · 136 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Operando measurements of dendrite-induced stresses in ceramic electrolytes using photoelasticity

  Matter · 2023 · 31 citations

  PublisherDOI

• Reversible Microscale Assembly of Nanoparticles Driven by the Phase Transition of a Thermotropic Liquid Crystal

  ACS Nano · 2023-05-24 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  The arrangement of nanoscale building blocks into patterns with microscale periodicity is challenging to achieve via self-assembly processes. Here, we report on the phase-transition-driven collective assembly of gold nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal. A temperature-induced transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase under anchoring-driven planar alignment leads to the assembly of individual nanometer-sized particles into arrays of micrometer-sized agglomerates, whose size and…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mesoscale Model for Ostwald Ripening of Catalyst Nanoparticles

  Journal of The Electrochemical Society · 2021-04-24 · 15 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  A mesoscale model is proposed to characterize coarsening of platinum-based catalyst particles with the aim of understanding cathode degradation and power loss in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The microstructure of a cathode catalyst layer is more complex than the ones typically described by Ostwald-ripening models, such as the Lifshitz and Slyozov and Wagner (LSW) theory or diffuse interface models. Our model captures the dissolution kinetics of the catalyst material, and the diff…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Development of an Additive Selection Criteria based on Interface Complexions

  NSF · $250k · 2009–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Yet‐Ming Chiang

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  63 shared

• Brian W. Sheldon

  26 shared

• D. Chatain

  18 shared

• Cole D. Fincher

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  14 shared

• Tushar Swamy

  Stanford University

  12 shared

• Giovanna Bucci

  12 shared

• Kyle C. Smith

  10 shared

• Christos E. Athanasiou

  Providence College

  10 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1990

• M.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1986

• B.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1983

Awards & honors

• 2017 Outstanding Educator Award, American Ceramic Society
• 2012 Wolfram Innovator of the Year, Wolfram Research
• 2008 MacVicar Distinguished Teaching Fellow, MIT
• 2008 Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, MIT
• 2005 Richard M. Fulrath Award, American Ceramic Society

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