NDnano Seed Fund Winners Unveiled
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe University of Notre Dame College of Engineering and College of Science have announced four Center for Nano Science and Technology Seed Grant recipients. The technology developed by nine faculty members includes a portable fentanyl detector, new ultra-thin films and sensing and imaging materials.
NDnano Director Alan Seabaugh says "we are excited to launch these four research collaborations, each building on materials innovations at Notre Dame. The research impacts a broad application space including opioid detection, water purification, molecular detection, and low power computing." The grant program is designed to boost researchers’ ability to address important scientific questions and "to enable technical leaps."
This year’s recipients are:
- Matthew Webber, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Jon Camden, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, for their research called, “Supramolecular capture of fentanyl on nano-gold sensors.” This group will work to develop field-deployable detection devices for fentanyl, a pervasive opioid and chemical agent that poses safety and health risks from low-dose exposure.
- Haifeng Gao, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, David Go, Rooney Family Associate Professor of Engineering, and William Phillip, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, for their project titled, “Elucidating the influence of ferroelectric polarization on metal ion adsorption to the surface of nano-porous thin films.” This research team aims to create a new class of films to realize low-energy, high selectivity separation devices for diverse applications including water treatment and purification of therapeutics.
- Anthony Hoffman, associate professor of electrical engineering, and Ryan K. Roeder, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, for their research titled, “Polar nanoparticles: A new optical platform for the long-wavelength infrared.” This research will work to lay the foundation for the exploration of a diverse set of new materials for use in sensing and imaging of large molecules.
- Emily Tsui, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Greg Snider, professor of electrical engineering, for their project called, “Synthesis and demonstration of switching in neutral mixed-valence molecular quantum-dot cellular automata.” This project will support a new collaboration in the area of low-power computing based on quantum-dot cellular automata with plans to use single-electron transistors charge switching in a new class of neutral mixed-valence molecules.
The Center for Nano Science and Technology is a collaborative research hub bringing together faculty, researchers and students in science and engineering fields. You can connect to more about NDnano by clicking here.