Ralph Nuzzo
G. L. Clark Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Professor Nuzzo received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Rutgers University in 1976 and his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. After completing his graduate studies he accepted a position at Bell Laboratories, then a part of A.T.&T., where he held the title of Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff in Materials Research. He joined the Illinois faculty in 1991.
Research
Our research is concerned broadly with the chemistry of materials. Of significant interest in this work are studies of complex processes occurring at surfaces and interfaces. The study of such phenomena requires the use of state of the art methods of spectroscopic analysis and physical characterization. Our studies also make extensive use of state of the art methods and instrumentation for imaging complex chemical systems. Such microscopies also provide useful adjunct methods for characterizing and manipulating nanoscale materials. We continue to be centrally involved in developing analytical protocols to elucidate the nature of adsorbate and interfacial structure as well as characterize their dynamics using state of the art methods of vibrational spectroscopy. This work impacts areas as diverse as the design of flat panel displays and the fabrication of chemical sensors and microelectonic arrays.
Our studies explore many systems with an interest in defining the mechanisms involved in the growth of useful materials structures from molecular and other precursors. This work is integrated with a larger set of research interests directed at the development of novel methods of micro/nanoscale fabrication and molecular patterning. This work is developing functional device structures for microelectronics, optics, chemical sensing, and detection—ones derived from a wide range of materials, spanning metals, semiconductors, biological materials, and ultimately cells. These studies involve many points of collaborative interactions with our colleagues here and at other institutions.
Our current work also emphasizes studies of complexity and emergent properties in condensed matter systems. In this research we seek to elucidate the most fundamental bases that underlay the properties of complex matter and molecular assemblies. The phase behaviours of complex organic adsorbates at surfaces and interfaces, especially self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are areas of great interest to us in this regard. This work has broad impacts, as the self-assembly of adsorbates at phase boundaries underlies a broad range of current problems in technology. In such work, we examine thin polymer films that are useful for microfabrication and bioanalytical measurements, biomimetic structures, microporous membranes, and SAMs supported on a variety of materials for application as platforms in studies of important interfacial phenomena. We use a variety of powerful probes that allow us to establish the characteristics of the local molecular structures present in such materials and use that information to develop predictive structure-property correlations of complex systems that extend out to macroscopic length scales.
Publications
"Microfluidic Devices for Culturing Primary Mammalian Neurons at Low Densities," Millet, L. J.; Stewart, M. E.; Sweedler, J. V.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Gillette, M. A. Lab on a Chip 2007, 7, 987-994.
"Coordination-Dependent Surface Atomic Contraction in Nanocrystals," Huang, W. J.; Sun, R.; Tao, J.; Menard, L. D.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Zuo, J. M. Nature Materials 2008, 7, 308-314.
"Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Peptide Release from neuronal Cells within Microfluidic Devices," Jo, K.; Heien, M. L.; Thompson, L. B.; Zhong, M.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Sweedler, J. V. Lab on a Chip 2007, 7, 1454-1460.
"Dynamic Structure in Supported Pt Nanoclusters: Real-time Density Functional Theory and X-ray Spectroscopy Simulations" Villa, F.; Rehr, J. J.; Kas, J.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Frenkel, A. I. Phys. Rev. B Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Rapid Comm. 2008, 78, 121404/1-4.
"Nanostructured Plasmonic Sensors," Stewart, M. N.; Anderton, C. R.; Yao, J.; Thompson, L. B.; Maria, J.; Gray, S. K.; Rogers, J. A; Nuzzo, R. G. Chem. Rev. 2008, 108, 494-521.
"Complementary Logic Gates and Ring Oscillators on Plastic Substrates by Use of Printed Ribbons of Single-Crystalline Silicon," Kim, D.-H.; Ahn, J.-H.; Kim, H.-S.; Lee, K. J.; Kim, T.-H.; Yu, C.-J.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Rogers, J. A. IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett. 2008, 29(1), 73-76.
"Textural Guidance Cues for Controlling Process Outgrowth of Mammalian Neurons," Hanson, J. N.; Mitchell, J.; Heien, M. L.; Motala, M. A.; Sweedler, J. V.; Gillette, M. A.; Nuzzo, R. G. Lab on a Chip 2009, 9, 122-131.
"Seeing Molecules by Eye: Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging at Visible Wavelengths with High Spatial Resolution and Sub-Monolayer Sensitivity," Yao, J.; Stewart, M. E.; Maria, J.; Gray, S. K.; Rogers, J. A.; Nuzzo, R. G. Angewandte Chemie Intl. Ed. 2008, 47, 5013-5017.
"Arrays of Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Microcells for Modules with Ultra-thin, Mechanically Flexible, Semi-transparent and Micro-optic Concentrator Designs," Yoon, J; Baca, A. J.; Park, S.-I.; Elvikis, P.; Geddes, J. B.; Li, L.; Kim, R. H.; Xiao, J.; Wang, S.; Kim, T. H.; Motala, M. J.; Ahn, B. Y.; Duoss, E.; Lewis, J. A.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Ferreira, P. M.; Huang,Y. Y.; Rockett, A.; Rogers; J. A. Nature Materials 2008, 7, 907-915.
"Visualizing the Effect of Microenvironment on the Spatiotemporal Molecular Activities in Live Cells by FRET," Kim, T. –J.; Xu, J.; Dong, R.; Wheeler, B. C.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Wang, Y. Small ASAP.
"The Emergence of Non-Bulk Properties in Supported Metal Clusters: Negative Thermal Expansion and Atomic Disorder in Pt Nanoclusters Supported on γ-Al2O3," Sanchez, S. I.; Menard, L. D.; Bram, A.; Kang, J. H.; Small, M. W.; Frenkel A. I.; Nuzzo, R. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. ASAP.
"Omnidirectional Printing of Flexible, Stretchable, and Spanning Silver Microelectrodes," Ahn, B. Y.; Duoss, E. B.; Motala, M. J.;Guo, X.; Park, S.-I.; Xiong, Y; Yoon, J.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Rogers, J. A.; Lewis, J. A. Science 2009, 323, 1590-1593.
"Direct-Write Assembly of 3D Hydrogel Scaffolds for Guided Cell Interactions," Barry, R. A.; Sheppard, R. F.; Hanson, J. N.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Wiltzius, P.; Lewis, J. A. Advanced Materials ASAP.
"Structural Characterization of Pt-Pd and Pd-Pt Core-Shell Nanoclusters at Atomic Resolution," Sanchez, S. I.; Small, M. W.; Zuo, J.-M; Nuzzo, R. G. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. in press.
Awards
- Fellow of the AVS, 2007
- World Innovation Foundation, Fellow, 2005
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, 2005
- ACS Arthur Adamson Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry in 2003
- Senior Editor of Langmuir
- Distinguished Technical Staff Award, Bell Laboratories
