Svetlana Boriskina
- Principal Research Scientist
Interests
- Energy & sustainability
- Nanophotonics and quantum materials
- Polymer fibers and textiles
Bio
Svetlana Boriskina develops new materials and technologies to harvest and manipulate light and other forms of radiation. Her multi-disciplinary research blends nanophotonics, plasmonics, electronics, thermodynamics and mechanics. Svetlana makes smart fabrics that provide thermal comfort indoors and outdoors and stay clean no matter what, new meta-materials that exhibit color without any dyes or pigments and change it in response to external stimuli, and novel solar harvesting platforms that can provide clean energy and fresh water to off-electrical-grid and disaster-stricken communities. She is the author and co-author of more than 130 peer-reviewed papers, several award-winning courses, and multiple patens. Svetlana is a passionate advocate for science education and science public communication, which she supports via leadership in professional science organizations, conferences, and journal editorial boards, mentorship of student groups, and public outreach.
Professor Boriskina News + Media
Ultrasonic device dramatically speeds harvesting of water from the air
MIT engineers have come up with a way to quickly recover water from an atmospheric water harvesting material. Rather than wait for the sun to evaporate water out, the team uses ultrasonic waves to shake the water out.
Could we recycle plastic bags into fabrics of the future?
Engineers have developed self-cooling fabrics from polyethylene, a material commonly used in plastic bags.
Researchers tune material’s color and thermal properties separately
Now MIT engineers have made samples of strong, tissue-like polymer material, the color and heat properties of which they can tailor independently of the other.
Faculty Details
Education
-
1995
Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine
M.Sc. -
1999
Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine
Ph.D.
Research Interests
- Energy & sustainability
- Fibers, textiles & wearables
- Nanophotonics and quantum materials
- Atmospheric water harvesting
- Heat transfer
Online Data
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YinqPA0AAAAJ&hl=en
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6798-8082
- ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Svetlana_Boriskina
Honors + Awards
- MIT Water Innovation Prize, 2021
- TechConnect Innovation Award, 2019
- Joint Award of ICO (International Commission for Optics) and ICTP (Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics), 2007
- Postdoctoral Fellowship (UK), Royal Society/NATO, 1999-2000
- Graduate Student Scholarship Award, IEEE MTT Society, 1997
- Post-Graduate Merit Student Scholarship, Soros Foundation, 1996-1997
- Graduate Fellowship in Advanced Electromagnetics, SUMMA Foundation, 1996
Publications
High-efficiency atmospheric water harvesting enabled by ultrasonic extraction, Nature Communications, 169947, 2025.
Nonreciprocal hyperbolic and surface modes enable tunable near-field heat transfer in current-biased Dirac semimetals, Nano Letters, 25 (22), 8876-8883, 2025.
Thermal and dimensional stability of photocatalytic material ZnPS3 under extreme environmental conditions. Advanced Electronic Materials, 11(13) 2500093, 2025.
Plasmon Fizeau drag in 3D Dirac and Weyl semimetals, ACS Photonics, 11, 2, 537–549, 2024.
Advancing life cycle sustainability of textiles through technological innovations, Nature Sustainability, 6, 243-253, 2023.
The Nonreciprocal Adventures of Light, Optics and Photonics News, 33(9), 46-53, 2022.
Tailoring the desorption behavior of hygroscopic gels for atmospheric water harvesting in arid climates, Advanced Materials, 34, 2205344, 2022.
Sustainable polyethylene fabrics with engineered moisture transport for passive cooling, Nature Sustainability, 4, 715-724, 2021 (COVER).
See full list here: https://sites.mit.edu/sboriskina/publications/