Qian Chen
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL·Materials Science
Building materials from the bottom up, one nanoparticle at a time, could create structures that ordinary manufacturing cannot make. To do this, particles need to stick to each other in chosen directions, much like molecules or proteins do.
- Fields
Materials Science
Chemistry
Engineering
- Topics
nanoparticles
self-assembly
ligand patterning
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Identify the surface forces that cause ligand molecules to form patches in specific regions of nanoparticles. The goal is to learn how to break particle symmetry and create directional interactions, combining theory, simulation and experiments.
- Characterize how symmetry-broken, patterned nanoparticles organize their positions and orientations into larger structures at interfaces, and establish structure–property relationships.
- Use these design rules to build chiral and porous nanoparticle assemblies for catalysis. Also optimize larger surface patterning to detect organic pollutants.
More about the research
This collaborative project proposes to coat nanoparticles with patterned layers of polymer or ligand molecules (molecules bound to the particle surface) to control which way particles attract. It combines theory, computer simulation and experiments.
Why it matters
Nanoparticles that assemble in predictable ways could lead to better filters for clean water and heavy-metal recovery, catalysts that break down pollutants, and sensors for environmental monitoring. The design rules could also inform materials for targeted delivery, metamaterials and microelectronics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Shuhao Liu
University of Texas at Tyler, TX·Materials Science
Establish a scalable convective self-assembly process that uses meniscus-guided blade coating to form ordered silica nanoparticle arrays on aluminum and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
Morgan Stefik
University of South Carolina-Columbia, SC·Materials Science
Determine how the chemical reactivity of polymers and nanoparticles controls lasting polymer-nanoparticle binding, so that designed polymer structure-directing agents keep particles in the order they were added.
Charles Sing
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL·Engineering
Use hybrid polymer field theory informed by particle simulations to test how steric repulsion and hydrophobic interactions control coacervation between polycations and surfactant micelles.
The school
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: 41 labs on PI Pages, $907M a year on research, 870 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.