Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series Presents the Rosemary Schnell Distinguished Lecturer, Alex Travesset

“Structure Prediction in Nanoparticle Assembly and the Quest for Open Superlattices”

The ability to synthesize large numbers of monodisperse Nanocrystals (also called Nanoparticles) with diverse shapes, sizes, and chemical compositions has given rise to a new field, where materials are made by assembling NCs, instead of atoms or molecules. These new materials are gradually emerging as major candidates to solve many of the technological challenges of our century. In this talk, Alex will first illustrate how this fascinating new field expands fundamental understanding of diverse subjects such as condensed matter, quantum physics, or even mathematics, and show that these materials display unique structural, dynamical, and thermodynamical properties, often reflecting deep underlying geometric and topological constraints. He will follow with a general overview of the different assembly strategies for which his group has developed structure prediction methods.

The rest of the talk focuses on two strategies: solvent evaporation, where he will discuss Perovskite nanocubes and phase transitions in single-component systems, and electrostatic assembly, which he will show enables the assembly of open superlattices, such as diamond or simple cubic, from isotropic, i.e., without valence, spherical nanocrystals. His lecture will conclude by emphasizing the value of mean field models for structure prediction and the prospects for theoretical/computational tools to lead the field.

Get to Know Alex (Click HERE for Alex’s CV)

Alex Travesset got his PhD from the Universitat de Barcelona in 1997 in high-energy physics. After Postdoc positions at Syracuse University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he joined the faculty at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University in 2002, where he has been a full professor since 2012. He also holds an appointment as an associated scientist at the Ames National lab. His work is supported by grants from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.