Investigators: Xiangfeng Duan; Justin Caram; Adam Stieg This Elman Family Foundation supported research is a collaboration, seeking to improve solar cell technology and is led by Xiangfeng Duan, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry. The project takes advantage of van der Waals forces — which control phenomena such as water droplet formation with attraction or repulsion between molecules at very short range — and the special, quantum mechanics-based capabilities shown by certain atomically thin “two-dimensional” materials. With these tools, Duan and his teammates hope to boost the overall efficiency with which solar cells convert sunlight to electricity. The Elman Family Foundation Innovation Fund (formerly the Noble Family Innovation Fund), established with a $10 million philanthropic commitment to the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, supports basic and translational research involving interactions on the nanoscale — measured in billionths of a meter. Funding is earmarked for projects with substantial promise for commercialization and societal impact. The goal is to create a model for academic research and entrepreneurship that enables strategic investment to seed discoveries that have the potential to be translated for the public good. For more information please visit: https://cnsi.ucla.edu/elman-fund/