(7cg) Colloidal Assemblies for Mesoscale Materials

Many physical effects are enhanced or controlled by structuration on the mesoscale between 100 nm and 10 µm, such as light scattering, capillary forces, and mass transport. These phenomena are critical for a variety of fields including optics, wetting, and electrochemistry, with applications in energy, defense, and healthcare. I plan to develop materials that can help us understand and control the phenomena that occur on these length scales, as well as develop synthetic processes that will allow the production of these materials to be scaled up.

My research focuses on engineering particles and surfaces to control their chemical and physical properties. By understanding and controlling these structure-property relationships, materials can be designed from the bottom up. My ultimate goal is to develop materials that can be used to solve global problems, such as those related to energy and the environment. While nanoscale energy materials and phenomena have been widely studied, mesoscale materials provide unique opportunities to take advantage of length scale-dependent properties.

My doctoral research at Harvard probed the self-assembly of colloids into mesoscopically ordered, porous structures known as inverse opals. Using chemistry, I was able to control the hierarchical structure of the inverse opal, which allowed for control over the resulting wetting and optical properties; I was particularly struck when I achieved a macroscopic color change of an inverse opal by using temperature to control the degree of condensation of the silica matrix material. As a postdoc at MIT, I have gained expertise in electrochemistry, working on several topics related to electrochemical CO₂ capture and conversion. These include a project developing novel electrocatalysts for CO₂ conversion, a collaboration to engineer CO₂ bubble delivery to catalyst surfaces, and more recently a focus on electrochemical carbon capture. As an independent scientist, I plan to work at the interface of these areas by developing methodologies to make novel hierarchical nano/mesomaterials, with an initial focus on carbon capture and conversion applications. This advanced understanding will open the door to future applications beyond carbon capture, such as sensing or drug delivery.

Teaching Interests:

I have experience teaching a wide range of courses; I was a teaching fellow (~TA) for an introductory chemistry course, an introductory food science/soft matter course, a quantum chemistry course, a graduate teaching course, and an advanced course on the chemistry of materials. These represent introductory and advanced undergraduate and graduate classes in chemistry and engineering. I would be interested in teaching similar courses in the future, as well as classes related to materials synthesis, nanotechnology, and colloid chemistry. I also have extensive undergraduate advising experience.