Transition metal oxides exhibit many properties that can be harnessed in novel devices. For example, an epitaxial ferroelectric on silicon enables a nonvolatile transistor that remembers its state without continuous power consumption. A critical question is how the oxide/silicon interface affects the oxide functionality.

The vivid, angle-dependent structural colors of some butterfly wing-scales are produced by light scattering from complex three-dimensional nanoscale structures. With intricate structural knowledge from synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), we hypothesize that the butterfly nanostructures develop by the self-organizing kinetics of cellular membranes, as with soft matter systems such as a soap film spanning a wire contour.

Optical properties of nanomaterials are at the basis of a host of new technology and prototypes, including sensors, computing devices, and enhancing substrates for spectroscopy, yet fundamental understanding on how to tune such properties is just emerging. Researchers at Northwestern University have previously developed a method to accurately correlate the structure and properties of nanoparticles at the single particle level. This technique has now been used in a high throughput fashion to observe

When a negatively charged, high molecular weight polymer (hyaluronic acid) is mixed with a positively charged peptide-based, self-assembling molecule, a membrane is instantaneously formed at the interface of the two solutions. These closed membranes (sacs) have a complex hierarchical structure which presents a unique challenge in quantifying its mechanical properties. Membrane inflation and osmotic swelling techniques have been used to quantitatively characterize the membrane properties. These findings will be

Molecular semiconductors are important materials for technology applications, such as solar cells. Current research focuses on how to organize molecules  at interfaces for more efficient energy conversion.  Maryland MRSEC researchers and NIST collaborators  recently showed how the arrangement of molecules at a molecular junction impacts energy

Hydrogels undergo volume changes when immersed in water, the degree of which is determined by the network chemical composition and crosslinking.

The dipole orientation in ferroelectrics, such as LiNbO3 and BaTiO3, can be controlled via application of an electric field and this can in turn affect surface properties.  In this project we have shown for both adsorbed organic molecules and metal atoms that adsorption energies and activation energies for surface reactions are a function of the dipole orientation.

We have designed and fabricated simple artificial protein scaffolds (we call them maquettes) that can transfer catalytic functions familiar in Nature into materials.  Our proteins, built just from four alpha helices, proved to be very simple and robust structural element for variety of functions.  To date, we have demonstrated that four-helical maquettes can

The Roman God Janus has two faces, one to look forward plus one to look back, and now serves as inspiration for many to make ‘Janus particles’ with two (or more) functionalities.  Indeed, the successful design and engineering of future technology requires materials with increasingly complex structures.