Molecular Foundry Seminar

"Predicting Pathways and Yields of Nanoscale Self-assembly"

Dr. Steven Whitelam, Staff Scientist, Molecular Foundry Theory of Nanostructured Materials Facility
Tuesday, September 16th at 1:00 pm, Bldg. 66 - Rm. 3111

View the Foundry Seminar Schedule

Abstract:

An outstanding problem of materials science is to develop a predictive, microscopic understanding of self-assembly: given a nanoscale building block, such as a protein or small molecule, how will it self-assemble? As time evolves, what phases and structures will it form, and what will be the yield of the `target' structure when (and if) it assembles? My group uses the tools and techniques of statistical mechanics to address these questions. I will discuss two current projects, one of which aims to achieve microscopic understanding of dynamical pathways of assembly in a model of anisotropic nanoparticles, and one of which aims to understand how to optimize the yield of a model protein crystal.