Thursday, December 2
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Sheraton, 2nd Floor, Grand Ballroom

Nicholas A. Kotov
University of Michigan
Nanoscale Biomimetics: From Self-Assembled Nanocomposites to Chiral Nanostructures

For foundational discoveries in interface-based engineering of self-organizing materials

The David Turnbull Lectureship recognizes the career contribution of a scientist to fundamental understanding of the science of materials through experimental and/or theoretical research. In the spirit of the life work of David Turnbull, writing and lecturing also can be factors in the selection process.

Nanoscale Biomimetics: From Self-Assembled Nanocomposites to Chiral Nanostructures

The ability to self-assemble into complex structures unites nanoscale particles from chemistry and biology.   Varying nanoscale anisotropy from high (nanoplatelets) to intermediate (dipole, Janus) and subtle (chirality), inorganic nanoparticles can produce multicomponent assemblies with sophisticated geometries and connectivity patterns. Over past three decades, the complexity of these assemblies dramatically increased from nanoscale chains and nacre-like multilayers, to left- and right-handed helices and spiky hedgehog particles. Materials made by self-assembly of nanoparticles revealed previously unattainable combinations of properties and their technological implementations are abundant. Graph theory (GT) methods are being developed to uniformly describe their hierarchical organization, enumerate their complexity, and design their properties aiming at biomimetic nanostructures serving as ultrastrong ion-selective membranes, biosimilar inorganic organelles,  chiral vaccine adjuvants.

About Nicholas A. Kotov

Nicholas A. Kotov received his degrees from the Moscow State University with his diploma and PhD studies centered on bioinspired harvesting of solar energy. His postdoctoral studies at Syracuse University encompassed the self-assembly of biomimetic nanocomposites. After taking an assistant professor position at Oklahoma State University, he expanded the field of biomimetic processes and self-organized materials by establishing a research program on self-assembly of nanostructures. Kotov is currently Irving Langmuir Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. He heads the laboratory and international team of scientists working on practical implementations and theoretical foundations of biomimetic nanostructures. Self-assembly and optical properties of chiral nanoparticles and their superstructures represent a focal point for the continuum of bioinspired nanoscale materials with multidisciplinary significance to physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. Nicholas is a co-founder of five startup companies and a passionate advocate for scientists with disabilities.