Soft and Biological Nanomaterials

Contact: Oleg Gang

Novel methods for system fabrication are required in order to build materials and devices that can take advantage of rich variety nanoparticles that are now became available. Approaches based on self-assembly of systems from nano-components might offer tremendous cost advantages and almost a magical ease of manufacturing compared to lithographic methods. Besides, a self-assembly can address tasks that are intrinsically challenging for conventional lithography processes, like, a fabrication of thee dimensional architectures or structures containing pre-fabricated nano-components.

The main goal of the CFN’s Soft and Bio-Nanomaterials Theme is development methods for assembly of hybrid nanoscale systems from organic and inorganic nanoscale components, understanding phenomena driving structure formation and energy-conversion properties of these materials.  Our approach for system assembly is based the unique properties of macromolecules, such as the recognition, re-configurability, and reversibility of interactions, which are used to direct and regulated self-assembly of nano-objects into functional materials with optical, electrical, magnetic and bio-sensing functions.

Our focus

• Development a suite of methods for precise assembly of nano-components of multiple types in pre-determined architectures, ranging from clusters of a few nano-components to extended structures containing billions of components
• Investigation processes that stimulate, perfect, and reconfigure the state of an assembled system by molecular stimuli and external fields.
• Exploration of energy transfer in optically active nano-systems built by self-assembly methods for potential light-harvesting and energy-conversion applications.

Associated Group Facilities

The group’s capabilities include techniques and methods required for the synthesis, regulated nanoscale assembly and study a structure and functional properties of soft and biological matter, and hybrid systems. Synthetic capabilities include solution-based synthesis and functionalization. A suite of in-situ characterization techniques provides structural and functional probing for soft matter system, surfaces, and single particles using a broad range of spectroscopic, x-ray scattering, optical, and scanning probes methods.

• Synthesis and Characterization Facility
  Capabilities include techniques and methods required for the synthesis, fabrication and study of novel hybrid structures and functionalities using regulated nanoscale assembly and self-organization approaches. Capabilities and expertise include solution-based synthesis and characterization of a variety of soft, biological, hybrid and inorganic nanomaterials. We utilize the range of x-ray, optical, spectroscopic and scanning probe methods for structure characterization.
• CFN End Stations at NSLS
  In-situ structural characterization can be performed for surfaces, thin films nanoparticles, biological complexes, nanofabricated structures and hybrid composites under environmental condition.
• Advanced Optics Facility
  A broad range of optical methods is available for characterization of energy transfer phenomena down to single molecular/particle level. Our capabilities include time- and spectrally resolved bulk/single molecule confocal fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Group Members

Staff

• Oleg Gang, Group Leader. Self-assembly on molecular- and nano- scales, soft matter interfaces, x-ray scattering methods
• Mircea Cotlet, Polymer and nanoscale optically active system, single molecule optical methods
• Dmytro Nykypanchuk, Macromolecular dynamics, colloids, surface functionalization
• William Sherman, DNA-based nanotechnology, design of branched DNA structures
• Kevin Yager, Polymers and polymers processing, x-ray and neutron scattering, and development of experimental and analysis scattering methods

Postdoctoral Fellows

• Fang Lu
• Sunita Srivastava
• Peter Sun
• Zhihua Xu
• Yugang Zhang

Student

• Cheng Chi
• Ye Tian

Visiting Scientists

• Miho Tagawa (JST, Japan)

Last Modified: December 1, 2011
Please forward all questions about this site to: Pam Ciufo.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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