Self-Assembly of Functional Materials

The mechanical and optical properties of soft materials are typically determined by their structure at super-molecular scales, from a few nanometers to a few microns.  These structures can be highly organized, with a crystalline structure, or more loosely organized, with only short-range translational order.  Self assembly is the process through which soft materials spontaneously determine their own microstructure when only coarse macroscopic variables, like temperature and concentration, are controlled.  We engineer the self assembly of colloidal systems into new structures by synthesizing particles with novel geometries and surface chemistries.  We also study the self-assembly of biological nanostuctures at super-molecular length scales, with a focus on nanostructures that produce structural color.