Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

This symposium will cover recent advances in the crystallization and assembly of atoms, molecules, and particles at interfaces, with a particular focus on mechanistic approaches developed to understand the underlying pathways for materials design and development. In almost all branches of materials research, these processes play a crucial role in defining the structure and morphology of synthetic materials, conversion and performance of energy storage devices, texture and properties of surfaces and substrates, and more. These processes include both crystal formation on an existing surface or substrate and phase transformation occurring at a phase boundary (e.g., solid-liquid and liquid-gas interfaces). The emergence of new research tools, including in situ and operando microscopy, spectroscopy, and scattering/diffraction techniques; computer vision-aided data analysis programs; and simulations have led to key breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of interfacial phase transformation. This symposium will consist of two parts. The first part is focused on the crystallization of atoms, ions, and small molecules at interfaces and surfaces. Specifically, contributions that study surface-bound growth of nano- and micro-crystals, formation of epitaxial layers, 2D materials growth, synthesis of heterojunctions and core-shell structures, and phase transformation in batteries and devices are warmly welcomed. The second part is dedicated to the assembly of larger building blocks, including (surface-functionalized) nano/microparticles, biological macromolecules (e.g., proteins and their derivatives), polymers, and higher-order complex structures. In both parts, new results in the thermodynamics, kinetics, and evolution pathways will be encouraged. In particular, attention will be paid to in situ/operando techniques and new data analysis methods, while fundamental studies based on ex situ observations and other approaches are also welcomed.

Topics will include:

• In situ microscopy for interfacial transformation studies
• In situ/operando spectroscopy, diffraction, and scattering methods
• New data processing, analysis, and mining methods for large in-situ datasets
• Surface-bound crystal growth and epitaxy
• Growth of 2D materials on substrates
• Synthesis of heterojunctions and core-shell nanostructures
• Phase transformation of battery materials
• Formation pathways and stability of colloidal crystals
• Biomimetic self-assembly
• Colloidal phase transformation
• Pre-nucleation events and dynamics
• Mass transport near interfaces
• Kinetics, thermodynamics, and pathways of interfacial processes
• Crystal growth models and theories
• Simulations of interfacial crystal growth or assembly pathways

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Qian Chen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
• Peter Crozier (Arizona State University, USA)
• James De Yoreo (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA)
• Mingdong Dong (Aarhus University, Denmark)
• Oleg Gang (Columbia University, USA)
• Ricardo Garcia (Spanish National Research Council, Spain)
• Song Jin (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA)
• Ute Kaiser (Ulm University, Germany)
• Sergei Kalinin (The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA)
• Won Chul Lee (Hanyang University, Republic of Korea)
• Jun Liu (University of Washington, USA)
• Jianwei Miao (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Scott Misture (Alfred University, USA)
• Frieder Mugele (University of Twente, Netherlands)
• Eiichi Nakamura (University of Tokyo, Japan)
• Paul Nealey (The University of Chicago, USA)
• Jungwon Park (Seoul National University, Republic of Korea)
• Harley Pyles (University of Washington, USA)
• Caroline Ross (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
• Frances Ross (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
• Andreas Stierle (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Germany)
• Niklas Thompson (Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
• Ulrich Wiesner (Cornell University, USA)
• Claire Xiong (Boise State University, USA)
• Xiao-Ying Yu (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA)

Symposium Organizers