Resnick Institute Seminar

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

3:00pm to 4:00pm

Guggenheim 133 (Lees-Kubota Lecture Hall)

Research talks from Resnick Postdoctoral Scholars Allegra Liberman-Martin Ph.D. & Yuanyue Liu Ph.D.

Please join us!

Allegra Liberman-Martin Ph.D. | Side Chain Design in Brush Block Copolymer Photonic Crystals

Major advances have been made in the preparation of mixed matrix membranes with embedded polymeric particles. One such advance combines the durability of polyvinylidene fluoride with the diverse functionality of hydrophilic polymers. Essential to the preparation of these membranes is the in-situ synthesis of microgel particles in the membrane casting solution. While performance and stability of these membranes have been well documented, probing and understanding the structure-function relationship has proven to be challenging. To address this challenge, we developed a new method using ultra-small angle neutron scattering (USANS) to measure microstructure formation in membrane casting solutions. Traditionally, USANS is applied to equilibrated systems, but in our experiment, we were able to measure transient structural changes during microgel particle growth. Our new approach using USANS will not only enable in-depth structural analysis of membrane casting solutions, but will also enable the study of many systems containing transient microstructure.

Yuanyue Liu Ph.D. | Predictive Modeling of Materials for Electronic and Energy Applications

Advances in materials have continuously revolutionized our lives. These advances can be accelerated with the help of theory and simulations. In this presentation, I will discuss some examples,

in which we use theory and simulations to understand, predict and design low-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g. nanotube, graphene, and atomically-thin metal dichalcogenides) for electronics and energy applications. These materials have attracted great interest due to their intriguing properties and promising applications, yet they still face many challenges to reach their full potential.

I will present our understanding and predictions of how to synthesize materials with desired properties (including theory-guided synthesis of novel materials), how to tune the defects to optimize material performance, and how to engineer the interface for better transport of charge carrieres, all of which are important for electronic/optoelectronic applications. I will also show how the surface electronic structure controls the atom's adsorption, on which we derived a model that has helped explained a number of experiments and guided the discovery of new materials for energy storage.

Refreshments in the Guggenheim Lobby before the seminar starting at 2:45 pm!

For more information, please contact Heidi Rusina by phone at 5956 or by email at [email protected] or visit Research talks from Resnick Postdoctoral Scholars Allegra Liberman-Martin Ph.D. & Yuanyue Liu Ph.D..

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