Materials Research Laboratory

What Materials Research Laboratory does

Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) is a shared-instrumentation research facility operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through The Grainger College of Engineering, providing 24/7 open access to 220+ advanced instruments across 15 specialized research cores covering electron microscopy (SEM, TEM/STEM, FIB, Cryo-EM), laser and spectroscopy, micro/nano fabrication and cleanroom, physical properties measurement, scanning probe microscopy, surface analysis, X-ray analysis, battery fabrication and characterization, biofabrication (Carver BioMaker), thermal and soft-materials analysis, photomask fabrication, and advanced materials testing (AMTEL). The facility serves more than 1,000 scientists and engineers across materials science, condensed matter physics, and materials chemistry, with 50 resident faculty maintaining active laboratories on-site.

MRL's revenue model is hybrid: usage-based fees from external academic, government, and industrial users; institutional support from UIUC and The Grainger College of Engineering; federal research grants (notably $3M from US Army CERL in 2024 for solid-state batteries and $3.25M from NSF in 2020 for Li-ion battery manufacturing and recycling); and corporate partnerships such as the PPG-MRL Graduate Research Assistantship Award. The facility is directed by Prof. Paul V. Braun with Mauro Sardela as Director of Central Research Facilities, and is structurally affiliated with five interdisciplinary centers (IQUIST, MRSEC, BP-ICAM, EBI, CHESS). MRL also hosts the annual Advanced Materials Characterization conference (AMC 2026) as an external-facing engagement and IP-generating channel.

As a non-profit university core facility rather than a commercial entity, MRL does not pursue equity financing or product revenue in the conventional sense; its $50M instrumentation footprint and large user community instead create durable platform leverage for federally and industrially funded research, with adjacent IP generation evidenced by granted and pending patents attributed to affiliated researchers.

Name

Materials Research Laboratory

Legal name

Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Website

https://mrl.illinois.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Materials Research Laboratory is a shared-instrumentation research facility at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign providing 24/7 access to 220+ instruments across 15 research cores, serving 1,000+ academic, government, and industrial researchers in materials science and related fields.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Urbana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. User Fees for Instrument Access: Fees charged to external users (academic, government, and industry) for access to instruments and facilities
2. Federal Research Grants: Major grants from federal agencies including US Army Corps of Engineers ($3M CERL grant for solid-state batteries) and NSF ($3.25M Future Manufacturing grant for Li-ion batteries)
3. Institutional Support: Support from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and The Grainger College of Engineering
4. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations like PPG Foundation supporting graduate research assistantships

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) operates as a shared-instrumentation research facility providing access to over 220 advanced instruments across 14 specialized research cores for materials fabrication, processing, and characterization. It offers 24/7 open access to state-of-the-art instrumentation with expert staff providing training, fabrication, and characterization services to academic, government, and industrial researchers.

Product overview

Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) is a shared-instrumentation research facility at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offering access to over 220 advanced instruments across 14 specialized research cores for materials fabrication, processing, and characterization. The facility provides 24/7 open access to state-of-the-art instrumentation with expert staff support and training. Core facilities include Electron Microscopy (EM), Cryo-EM, Laser and Spectroscopy, Micro/Nano Fabrication and Cleanroom, Physical Properties Measurement, Scanning Probe Microscopy, Surface Analysis, X-Ray Analysis, Thermal Analysis, Battery Fabrication, BioMaker Laboratory, Photomask Fabrication, and AMTEL testing services. MRL serves over 1000 scientists and engineers from academia, industry, and government agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electron Microscopy Core Advanced electron microscopy services including SEM, TEM/STEM, Focused Ion Beam (FIB) systems, and EM support instruments for high-resolution imaging and analysis of materials, available to academic, government, and industrial researchers.
• Cryo-EM Facility Cryo-electron microscopy services including sample preparation and vitrification of biological specimens for structural biology research.
• Laser and Spectroscopy Core Comprehensive optical characterization services including contact angle goniometry, cryostats, ellipsometry, light sources, microscopy, and spectroscopy for materials research.
• Micro/Nano Fabrication and Cleanroom Microfabrication and nanofabrication capabilities including bonding stations, deposition tools, dry etching, furnace equipment, lithography, and probe stations in a Class 100/1000 cleanroom.
• Physical Properties Measurement Measurement of physical properties including electrical transport, heat capacity, magnetization, and thermal transport characterization for materials research.
• Scanning Probe Microscopy Scanning probe techniques including atomic force microscopy (AFM), nanoindentation, and scanning probe optical spectroscopy for nanoscale characterization.
• Surface Analysis Core Surface analysis services including accelerator-based techniques, atom probe tomography, secondary ion mass spectrometry, surface profilometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
• X-Ray Analysis X-ray characterization services including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray scattering, and data analysis software packages.
• AMTEL (Advanced Materials Testing and Evaluation Laboratory) Advanced materials testing and evaluation services for mechanical behavior and performance characterization.
• MRL Battery Fabrication and Characterization Lab Specialized laboratory for battery fabrication and electrochemical characterization for energy storage research.
• MRL Carver BioMaker Laboratory Biofabrication and bioprinting capabilities for biomaterials research and medical device prototyping.
• Thermal Analysis and Soft Materials Characterization Services for thermal analysis and soft materials characterization, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), particle size analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).
• Photomask Fabrication Facility Photomask fabrication services for microelectronics and nanotechnology research.
• Bio Services Biological specimen preparation and characterization services for materials research involving biological systems.
• Physics-MRL Machine Shop Custom fabrication and machining services for research equipment and prototypes.
• Instrument Training and User Support Expert staff training on instrument operation, sample fabrication, processing, characterization, and analysis services upon request.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supporting research for over 1000 scientists and engineers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, major and minor.

• PPG FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026PPG Foundation supports the PPG-MRL Graduate Research Assistantship Award program, providing up to five doctoral-level students conducting research broadly related to coatings science and specialty materials. Each award provides one year of support at 25% level plus a travel award of up to $2,000 for presenting research at scientific meetings.
• US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024$3 million grant for solid-state rechargeable lithium battery research. Led by Paul Braun with team members David Cahill, Elif Ertekin, Jessica Krogstad, Nicola Perry, Daniel Shoemaker, and Beniamin Zahiri. Project focuses on creating underpinning science and technology for solid-state batteries.
• National Science Foundation (NSF)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2020$3.25M NSF Future Manufacturing Research Grant over 5 years for holistic design for manufacturing and recycling of high energy density Li-ion batteries. Team includes Paul Braun, Nenad Miljkovic, Nicola Perry, Pingfeng Wang (UIUC) and Marta Hatzell (Georgia Tech).
• Georgia TechmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Prof. Marta Hatzell at Georgia Tech as co-PI on NSF Future Manufacturing Research Grant for Li-ion battery research.
• Oak Ridge National LaboratoriesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating institution on NSF Future Manufacturing Research Grant for Li-ion battery research.
• Xerion Advanced Battery Corp.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry collaborator on NSF Future Manufacturing Research Grant for Li-ion battery research.
• Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRL is affiliated with IQUIST for quantum information science research collaboration.
• Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRL is affiliated with MRSEC for materials research science and engineering.
• BP International Centre for Advanced Materials (BP-ICAM)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRL is affiliated with BP-ICAM for advanced materials research.
• Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRL is affiliated with EBI for energy and biosciences research.
• Center for Hypersonics and Entry Systems Studies (CHESS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRL is affiliated with CHESS for hypersonics research.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory housing the Advanced Light Source and Molecular Foundry, both user facilities for materials characterization and nanofabrication. Larger scope than MRL but comparable in providing shared access to advanced instrumentation for materials research.
• Brookhaven National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory operating NSLS-II and Center for Functional Nanomaterials as user facilities. Directly comparable for advanced X-ray and electron-beam characterization but as part of a broader national lab portfolio with greater scale and federal funding base.
• NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology: NIST's shared nanofabrication and characterization facility providing access to advanced tools for academic, government, and industrial researchers. Comparable user facility model with similar instrument classes (electron microscopy, nanofabrication, surface analysis).
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory with extensive materials characterization user programs (Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory). Comparable as a federally-funded shared facility for materials analysis and characterization, though operating at larger scale and broader mission scope.

Direct peers

• Caltech Kavli Nanoscience Institute: Caltech's shared nanoscience facility with cleanroom, electron microscopy, and nanofabrication capabilities serving academic and external users. Operates as a comparable university-based shared instrumentation facility with a similar revenue model.
• Argonne National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory operating multiple user facilities for materials characterization and fabrication (Advanced Photon Source, Center for Nanoscale Materials). Directly comparable as a federally-funded shared instrumentation facility serving academic, government, and industrial users with similar electron microscopy, X-ray, and nanofabrication capabilities.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory with extensive user programs for materials research (Spallation Neutron Source, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences). Already an MRL collaborator on the NSF Future Manufacturing grant, and operates as a directly comparable shared user facility for advanced materials characterization.
• MIT.nano: MIT's shared nanofabrication and characterization facility with cleanroom, electron microscopy, and materials synthesis capabilities. Operates the same shared-instrumentation model serving academic, government, and industrial users at a peer-tier university.
• Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems: Harvard University's shared nanofabrication and characterization facility with extensive cleanroom, imaging, and materials synthesis capabilities. Functions as a peer university-based shared user facility with similar revenue model (user fees, grants, institutional support).
• Stanford Nano Shared Facilities: Stanford University's shared nanofabrication and characterization facility offering cleanroom, electron microscopy, and materials analysis tools. Directly comparable university-based shared user facility serving a large multi-disciplinary research community.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/login
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCLTaFk7yAQimkKU2mOPUk8g
• Facebookfacebook.com/MaterialsResearchLab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/materials-research-laboratory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Materials Research Laboratory