Congratulations to the 2023 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit “Science as Art” Winners! By popular vote, the following images were chosen as 1st Place Winners.

As a special feature of the MRS Spring and Fall Meetings, the Materials Research Society offers the popular “Science as Art” competition with entry open to all registered meeting attendees.

Visualization methods provide an important tool in materials science for the analysis and presentation of scientific work. Images can often convey information in a way that tables of data or equations cannot match. Occasionally, scientific images transcend their role as a medium for transmitting information and contain the aesthetic qualities that transform them into objects of beauty and art.

figure a

Aerial view of Nano Amazon Forest

Nabojit Kar, Indiana University Bloomington

Octahedral gold nanoparticles synthesized through colloidal methods were observed to self-assemble using scanning electron microscopy.

figure b

Zinc oxide nanoflowers

Ndepana Andrew, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Scanning electron micrograph of zinc oxide nanoflowers. This symbolizes an artificial flower that mimics the marigold flower and has carnation-like flower heads produced singly or in clusters with beautifully arranged multiple petals that thrive in full sunshine and can often withstand hot weather. The zinc oxide nanoflowers were synthesized using an environmentally friendly approach in an aqueous medium at room temperature for use as a catalyst. Owing to their large surface area and high binding energy, these flowers could be used as active catalytic sites for photocatalysis.

figure c

MXene golden swan

Anupma Thakur, Purdue University

In a moonlight canvas, presenting a multilayered titanium carbide MXene visualized as a golden swan. The two-dimensional (2D) Ti3C2Tx MXene layers were formed by selective etching of Al layers from the Ti3AlC2 MAX phase using hydrofluoric acid. MXene swan’s serenade, where beauty and moonlight dance in perfect harmony!