Research

Our group seeks to elucidate dynamic chemical processes in materials to provide new design principles for next generation devices.

The key to creating of the next generation of healthcare, energy, and computing technologies is taming the underlying dynamic chemical processes that determine functionality. To build better solar cells, we need to elucidate how energy moves through complex nanoscale environments. For the next generation of interfaces between digital electronics and biology, we need to uncover how ions and electrons navigate through heterogeneous polymers. Elucidating these dynamic processes and linking them to device performance is challenging because of the wide range of length and time scales involved.

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Structural Transformations in Soft Materials

We develop new ways to directly observe phase transition dynamics in soft and hybrid materials and explore the implications of these phase transitions for energy and healthcare devices.

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Uncovering the Link Between Chemical Heterogeneity and Energy Transport

We use correlative microscopy methods in tandem to map how energy flows through heterogeneous energy materials and correlate pathways of energy transport with local chemical composition.

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Capturing Nanoscale Dynamics at Liquid-Solid Interfaces

We probe processes at the electrode-electrolyte interface with unprecedented spatial resolution and chemical contrast, providing new design principles for devices that rely on electrochemical interfaces.