IRG III: Rational Design of Nanoparticle and Molecule-Based Functional Materials @ University of Chicago
This IRG aims to develop the tools needed to create a new class of materials based on the highly-diverse assortment of nanometer-sized particles that are now available. In order to produce new materials with specialized functions, we focus on elucidating the rules by which these entities can be assembled using thermodynamics and out-of-equilibrium dynamics into functional materials. Although an astonishing variety of structures can be assembled, the principles by which theses systems form are unknown. Critical goals include understanding the fundamentals of nanoparticle self-organization and tuning the array properties systematically. This IRG also provides a source of materials that will be examined in the other IRGs.
