Maria Kamenetska
Boston University, MA·Chemistry·Early-career
Electrons and molecules both move in ways that shape what a material can do. One example is how current flows through a single molecule wired into a circuit.
- Fields
Chemistry
Biophysics
Physics
- Topics
single-molecule electronics
optical tweezers
force spectroscopy
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Feb 2031
What they work on
- Build an all-optical microscope that uses optical tweezers to hold single molecules between two gold nanoparticles in solution. Test whether darkfield and Raman light signals reveal charge transport without force damage.
- Measure charge transfer across nucleic acids and protein nanowires, protein fibers some organisms use to conduct electricity, while tuning the gap between nanoparticles. Interpret the optical response with ab initio simulations.
- Use optical tweezer force spectroscopy to test how ions and small molecules found in mammalian cells change the mechanics and folding speed of single RNA molecules.
- Quantify the link between structure and folding energy in synthetic and modified RNAs. Use the data to train machine-learning models that predict how RNA folds.
- Develop analysis methods to map the shapes and switching rates of RNAs with several folds. Targets include SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA and cancer-linked telomeric and 5' UTR structures.
- Use scanning tunneling microscope break junction (STMBJ) measurements and DFT calculations to find chemical design rules for stable circuits made of single paramagnetic (magnetic) molecules.
- Measure spin-resolved current through single-molecule junctions using ferromagnetic electrodes. Test how the metal–molecule bond controls electronic behavior with three-terminal electrochemical STM measurements.
More about the research
Another is how a strand of RNA folds and flickers between shapes. Measuring these behaviors one molecule at a time could guide smaller electronics, quantum devices and drugs that target RNA. Across three projects, the lab builds and uses single-molecule tools. Optical tweezers grip molecules with focused laser light. A scanning tunneling microscope uses a sharp metal tip to make contacts only atoms wide. Both are paired with computer simulations.
Why it matters
This work could help shrink electronics below the size limits of silicon transistors. It could also inform molecular components for non-volatile memory, magnetic sensing and quantum information. On the biomedical side, measuring RNA shapes and folding energies, and building training data for prediction models, may help drug developers target disease-linked RNAs. These include SARS-CoV-2 regulatory RNA and RNA structures associated with cancer.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Elucidating kinetics and thermodynamics of RNA-ligand interactions using single molecule approaches
NIH · Mar 2026 – Feb 2031
An Optical Tweezer Darkfield Plasmon Ruler Microscope for Single Molecule Charge Transport Measurements
NSF · Aug 2026 – Jul 2029
CAREER: Probing and Manipulating Electronic and Spin Degrees of Freedom in Paramagnetic Single Molecule Circuits
NSF · Feb 2022 – Jan 2027
Closest labs
Nan Jiang
University of Illinois Chicago, IL·Chemistry·Early-career
Image vibrational modes and electron-phonon coupling in borophene, a one-atom-thick boron sheet, with STM-TERS at about 5-ångström resolution to map strain, defects and doping.
Haoran Wei
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Engineering·Early-career
Determine how a contaminant's chemical properties, its binding to the sensor surface, and water acidity and salts control SERS (surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) sensitivity, using adsorption measurements, controlled water experiments, and density functional theory modeling.
Mogus Mochena
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, FL·Chemistry
Predict the stability and electronic structure of platinum, palladium, rhodium and nickel single atoms on transition metal carbides and nitrides using density functional theory and machine learning, verified by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy in ultrahigh vacuum.
The school
Boston University: 26 labs on PI Pages, $784M a year on research, 630 research doctorates a year.
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