GTU Research Featured on the Cover of ACS Omega

June 29, 2026 - GTU Office of Press and Public Relations
 

— A nanomaterials study developed entirely with domestic research infrastructure by Mahmut Akşit, PhD, faculty member at Gebze Technical University (GTU), and his team has achieved international recognition after being selected as a supplementary cover article by the prestigious ACS journal.

— Supported by TÜBİTAK, the innovative nanoengineering project marks a technological milestone by transforming nanoscale building blocks into textured macroscopic functional structures through a patent-oriented approach.

A nanomaterials study conducted by Mahmut Akşit, PhD, and his research team at Gebze Technical University (GTU) has achieved international recognition after being selected as a supplementary cover article in the prestigious ACS journal.

The innovative research led by Mahmut Akşit, PhD, faculty member in the Department of Physics within GTU's Faculty of Science, has been published in the internationally respected journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Marking a significant scientific achievement, the study has been selected as the supplementary cover of the journal issue.

The research introduces a scalable shear-force-assisted coating strategy for the fabrication of textured NaₓCoO₂ nanosheet thermoelectric foils. The study addresses a critical engineering challenge by transforming nanoscale building blocks with exceptional properties into macroscopic functional structures, where transport phenomena can be optimized through controlled orientation and texture.

Patent-Oriented Technology Powered by Domestic Research Infrastructure

Mahmut Akşit, PhD, emphasized that the study represents far more than a single result for a specific material system. Instead, it constitutes one of the key outcomes of a broader, patent-supported technology platform capable of translating nanomaterials developed at the nanoscale into practical macro-scale applications. He noted that this approach goes beyond using nanomaterials merely as additive phases or laboratory-scale samples by enabling their transformation into functional macroscopic structures with controllable orientation, anisotropy, and transport properties.

A Showcase of GTU's Research Infrastructure

One of the most remarkable aspects of the study is that it was built entirely upon the synthesis infrastructure, scientific know-how, and research environment developed within Gebze Technical University. As such, the publication stands as tangible evidence of GTU's in-house research capacity, spanning original concept development, intellectual property generation, scalable processing technologies, and international academic visibility.

A Research Journey Recognized Internationally

This research direction had previously received international recognition when a closely related study presented at the MRS Fall Meeting 2022 earned the Best Student Presentation Award. The latest publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and its selection as the journal's supplementary cover represent another milestone in the team's ongoing efforts to bridge fundamental materials science with patent-oriented technological innovation.

Supported by TÜBİTAK and Collaborative Research

This comprehensive research was financially supported through the TÜBİTAK 2232 International Fellowship for Outstanding Researchers Program (Project No. 118C296). The authors of the publication are Rana Üçüncüoğlu, Esra Buğçe Karataş-Özkaraca, Elif Sena Gür, Abdelhakim Elmhamdi, and Asst. Prof. Mahmut Akşit.

Publication: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.6c03314