Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
Research focuses on organic and inorganic nanoparticle synthesis and manipulation, polymer thin films and functional surfaces, functional nanofibers, inorganic thin films and organic/inorganic hybrid materials, bio-nano-materials and structures, nanostructure self-assembly, as well as nano-materials and structures for electronic, optoelectronic, sensing and energy conversion systems.
Prof. DeSimone’s Group
Uses specifically-designed materials for soft lithography that have enabled an extremely versatile and flexible method for the direct fabrication and harvesting of monodisperse, shape-specific nano-biomaterials.
Prof. Dickey’s Group
Seeks to elucidate the fundamental structure-property relationships of materials such that they can be harnessed in a useful manner, and to develop new, unconventional approaches to fabricate and assemble structures into hierarchical, integrated devices.
Prof. Flickinger’s Group
Combines microbial biocatalysis and bioreactive nanostructured polymer materials. Research includes engineering polymer adhesion, coating nanoporosity and preservation of microbial viability in coatings and microbial ink-jet inks by carbohydrate glasses for applications in high intensity microchannel bioreactors and microfluidic devices.
Prof. Genzer’s Group
Uses organic films with thickness in the range of 1-100 nm as functional substrates to form polymer-nanoparticle composites, the structure and properties of which can be finely tuned by controlling the molecular parameters of the underlying organic films.
Prof. Khan’s Group
Focuses on functional nanofibers that offer an exciting opportunity to develop materials with new and tailored properties.
Prof. Parsons’ Group
Focuses on fundamentals of thin film materials, surface reactions, and nano--scale engineering. A primary area of study is Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology for highly conformal fabrication of inorganic insulators and metals with atomic-scale control of growth and interface formation.
Prof. Velev’s Group
Develops new "lab-on-a-chip" technologies for chemical synthesis in microscopic droplets, drug and toxin screening, handling of single live cells, and assembly of microscopic circuits and sensors.
Prof. Wei's Group
The Wei group is developing next-generation field-deployable molecular imaging, sensing, and diagnostic tools for plants and humans.