US
Material Measurement Laboratory | NIST
Material Measurement Laboratory | NIST
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Material Measurement Laboratory
MML conducts measurement science across the chemical, biological and material sciences. Activities range from fundamental and applied research to the development and dissemination of certified reference materials and data to industry, academia, and other government agencies to assure the quality of measurement results.
Divisions
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division
Biomolecular Measurement Division
Biosystems and Biomaterials Division
Chemical Sciences Division
Material Data Division
Materials Measurement Science Division
Materials Science and Engineering Division
Office of Reference Materials
The NIST Bioeconomy Lexicon Aids Measurement of a Vital Industry Sector
NIST Supports Transition to a Circular Economy
What is a Standard Reference Material?
About the Material Measurement Laboratory
The NIST Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) conducts measurement science research to benefit industries based in the chemical, biological, and material sciences, and contributes technical expertise to the development of standards. MML researchers perform fundamental and applied research, evaluate data, and create other programs and tools to assure the quality of measurement results.
Learn more about MML's work:
Projects & Programs
News & Updates
Events
Publications
Awards
Press Coverage
Blogs
Patents
Our work supports areas of national importance:
We contribute to the manufacture of
new vaccines and biologic drugs
Characterize the performance of
alternative fuels and refrigerants
Assess pollutants and their
impact on the marine economy
Help develop
new materials for lightweight, fuel efficient transportation
, and much more.
Projects & Programs
Accelerating Materials Discovery using Machine Learning and AI Using machine learning and AI techniques along with high-throughput DFT calculations materials with specific properties are identified to accelerate the the discovery process for a variety of applications. Some of the specific materials...
Across the entire semiconductor industry, issues related to thermomechanical mismatches encountered during packaging are limiting factors in the design and fabrication of 3D modular integrated circuits. This project will develop novel and necessary metrologies for thermomechanical properties of...
We have developed 3D orientation measurement techniques by analyzing polarization-dependent molecular vibrational signals based on infrared (IR) absorption [1,2] and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) [3]. The two imaging modalities are complementary to each other: IR imaging broadly...
News & Updates
For companies selling recycled materials, knowing the science isn’t enough. Understanding the standards is just as critical. Take a recycler working with PVC...
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released NIR-SORT 2.0, a major technical expansion of its spectroscopic fabric characterization...
According to the Office of the US Surgeon General, approximately one in five deaths annually is related to smoking. Additionally, the economic impact of smoking...
Events
Red Hat and the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Office of Space
Informal meeting of polymer science subject matter experts in civil service.
This multi-day workshop brings together NIST scientists and public health professionals to discuss the Rapid Drug
Publications
Predicting any protein's function from its sequence alone would be a significant breakthrough in molecular biology. Although machine learning approaches have...
Fractography is a powerful but underutilized tool for the analysis of fractured glasses and ceramics. It may be applied to fractures in the laboratory or for...
Awards
The Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley honors Dr. André Striegel of the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory with the prestigious Dal Nogare Award, given to an outstanding scientist in the field of chromatography. He is honored for his...
Aaron Rowane received the 2026 Early Career Award from the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data for outstanding research in thermophysical properties and phase equilibria.
The NIST Sigma Xi Chapter honors Dr. Ran Tao of the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory with the prestigious Katharine B. Gebbie Young Investigator award. The award recognizes Dr. Tao's pioneering research and leadership in the field of rheology...
Press Coverage
Learn more about Dr. Aaron Rowane in an exclusive interview and browse the 2026 winner's published research in ACS Journals.
Rockville, Maryland, February 12, 2026 — AOAC INTERNATIONAL (AOAC) recently completed a collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and...
Traditionally, automobiles contain hundreds of structural metal parts that people never see. Whether it’s full front or rear underbodies, shock-tower modules or...
Blog Posts
From blood transfusions to broken bones, accurate measurements are a vital part of health care.
NIST develops and sells more than 1,300 standard reference materials that are critical to supporting American industry and conducting research.
A love of science led a NIST researcher to her career. Now she’s working to encourage children to embrace science.
A NIST researcher from Pittsburgh — known as the Steel City — is working to understand how we can better make steel right here in the U.S.
Patents
Serrodyne modulation (i.e., using a sawtooth waveform to produce a linear phase chirp) is performed using an electro-optic phase modulator to provide the needed frequency shift.
It relates to nucleic acid transcription templates, systems, and methods for detection and measurement of molecules and biomolecules (e.g., biomarkers). Particularly, systems and methods utilize a transcription template with an aptamer domain configured to bind a molecule of interest to regulate
This invention is an optical method that can minimize the noise due to system fluctuations and maximize the signal-to-noise ratio by modulating the analyte beam and the reference beam and detecting the alternating intensity difference by a signal light detector. This invention is based on a double
A high-temperature and high-pressure speed of sound apparatus measures the speed of sound in a sample at high-temperature and high-pressure, the apparatus includes: a defined-length spacer that has a fixed length spacer portion; an acoustic reflector, such that a crucible is interposed between the
Contacts
GENERAL INFORMATION: 301-975-8300 (PHONE);
[email protected]
; 100 BUREAU DRIVE, M/S 8300, GAITHERSBURG, MD 20899-8300
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