Dr. Chenglin “Bob” Wu, an assistant professor of structural engineering in the civil, architectural and environmental engineering department, has won a $500,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for his work in two-dimensional metals – metals that are three atoms thick – for use in computer chips, sensors and coatings.

Wu says commercial interest in 2D materials is growing, and the market for the materials is projected to be $6 billion by 2035. He adds that the semiconductor and coating industries are already moving into 2D materials as the cost comes down.

Another industry that could benefit from 2D applications is health care, Wu says. He and other researchers at Missouri S&T are using 2D materials in sensors to detect COVID-19 in people’s breath, and they are developing a Bluetooth cell phone application that works with a 2D sensor in a mask to detect viruses, sending data from the mask directly to your phone and alerting the testing center. They are also working with collaborators at other universities across the country to develop wearable sensing devices, including a patch that can monitor diabetes using 2D sensor technology.