ChE Seminar Series: Linked-colloidal nanocrystal gels

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THOMAS M. TRUSKETT, PH.D.
Professor
Dick Rothwell Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Title: Linked-colloidal nanocrystal gels

Abstract: Gels assembled from solvent-dispersed nanocrystals are of interest for functional materials because they promise the opportunity to retain distinctive properties of individual nanocrystals combined with tunable, structure-dependent collective behavior. In this talk, I discuss how equilibrium considerations can help to guide assembly of nanocrystal gels with properties controlled microscopically by design of a molecular mediator and macroscopically via its concentration. This mode of control is compelling because it decouples nanocrystal synthesis and functionalization from the design of interactions that drive assembly.

Bio: Thomas M. Truskett is the Dick Rothwell Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. His research group uses statistical mechanics to study soft matter. Previously, he pursued postdoctoral studies at the University of California San Francisco. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Texas at Austin and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University, all in chemical engineering.