CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, January 30, 2025
CFM will meet in Olin 105 with lunch service at 12pm and the seminar at 12:30pm.
The speaker will be Rajeev Dhupar, MD, MBA. Dr. Dhupar is the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, November 14, 2024
CFM will meet in Olin 105 with lunch service at 12pm and the seminar at 12:30pm.
Speaker: Professor Chaochao Dun from Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, October 3, 2024
CFM will meet in Olin 105 with lunch service at 12pm and the seminar at 12:30 pm.
Speaker:
Professor Kui Tan from the University of North Texas.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, September 12, 2024
CFM will meet in Olin 105 with lunch service at 12pm and the seminar at 12:30 pm.
Speaker:
Professor Reza Ghiladi from NC State University Department of Chemistry.
Title:
“Photodynamic and pH-Dynamic Materials: Improving the Toolbox to Overcome Challenges in Infection Prevention”
Abstract:
Efforts to control hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have been hampered by the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens, necessitating the pursuit of advanced functional materials that are capable of the self-disinfection of such microbes in hospital environments. To that end, we have explored material utilizing two approaches for pathogen reduction: antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) and antimicrobial pH-dynamic inactivation (apHDI). In vitro aPDI studies were performed against bacteria and viruses employing photosensitizer-embedded or conjugated nanofibrillated cellulose, polyacrylonitrile or nylon nanofibers, dual-dyed wool/acrylic blended fibers, olefinic block copolymers, and spray coatings. For natural polymer scaffolds, cellulose-porphyrin conjugates (nanocrystals, nanofibers, or paper sheets) were found to be highly effective against a broad spectrum of pathogens: our best results demonstrated that S. aureus, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae all exhibited photodynamic inactivation by 99.99+%, as well as inactivation of dengue-1 virus (>99.995%), influenza A (~99.5%), and human adenovirus-5 (~99%). As an alternative strategy, non-covalent approaches to photodynamic materials using artificial polymers were also explored: i) using electrospinning, cationic porphyrin and BODIPY photosensitizers were embedded into polyacrylonitrile and nylon nanofibers, and the resultant nonwoven materials possessed both antibacterial and antiviral activities; ii) using melt-pressing, we developed a photosensitizer-embedded olefinic block copolymer that exhibited excellent antimicrobial properties against a range of microbes, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative drug-resistant bacteria, as well as against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses; and iii) more recently, we have explored photodynamic coatings on polymer microfibers for pathogen inactivation, and have demonstrated population reductions of >99.9999 and 99.6% for S. aureus and antibiotic-resistant E. coli, respectively, after exposure to visible light for 1 h. In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we also confirmed that these coated fibers can inactivate a human common cold coronavirus serving as a surrogate for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In a non-photodynamic approach, excellent antimicrobial properties were achieved through the use of charged multiblock polymers wherein the midblock was selectively sulfonated: the resultant hydrophilic and water-swellable “pH-dynamic” polymers led to self-sterilizing surfaces that rapidly act (killing more than 99.9999% in just 5 min) against a wide range of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, as well as enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Together, these results demonstrate that such materials may have widespread applicability for non-specific pathogen disinfection, and further research may lead to their application in hospitals and healthcare-related industries where novel materials with the capability of reducing the rates of transmission of a wide range of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, particularly of antibiotic resistant strains, are desired.
Bio:
Reza A. Ghiladi received a B.S. in Chemistry from Haverford College in 1995, followed by advanced training in synthetic inorganic chemistry with Prof. Ken Karlin at Johns Hopkins University, earning an M.A. in 1997 and a Ph.D. in 2001. Following postdoctoral work at the Mayo Clinic under Prof. Frank Rusnak as the Kendall-Mayo Fellow in Biochemistry, he continued his training as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at San Francisco under Prof. Paul Ortiz de Montellano. Prof. Ghiladi joined the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University in 2006 as an Assistant Professor, and his research has focused on both antimicrobial materials for infection control as well as mechanistic enzymology. In 2012, he was the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, in 2013 he received the LeRoy and Elva Martin Award for Teaching Excellence from the NC State College of Sciences, in 2016 he received the university-wide NC State University Outstanding Teacher Award, and he was named a University Faculty Scholar in 2019. In 2018, he co-founded PhotoCide Protection Inc., a university startup company focused on commercializing photodynamic antimicrobial materials. Prof. Ghiladi was appointed as the Director of Graduate Programs for the Department of Chemistry in 2020, and currently holds the rank of Professor.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Thursday, April 18, 2024 – Olin 105; Lunch service will begin at 12:30pm and the Seminar will start at 1:00 pm
“Sustainable Materials Engineering for Rechargeable Sodium Ion Batteries”, by Lin Ma
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification (BATT CAVE) Research Center,
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
Rechargeable batteries are promising energy storage technologies that provide high energy and power for applications such as electric vehicles and power grids that integrate intermittent renewable energy resources. Recent studies highlight the critical importance of integrating sustainable materials strategies to lower battery costs and carbon emissions, while also increasing the utilization of abundant earth elements, all without compromising performance standards. In this seminar, I will discuss recent works at BATT CAVE at UNC Charlotte including engineering cathode materials through all-dry doping, as well as interface/interphase engineering in electrolyte materials for sodium ion batteries. We hope to provide some perspectives regarding new pathways to design and engineering bulk and interfaces in electrode and electrolyte materials with enhanced energy/power for sustainable energy storage systems.
Dr. Lin Ma is currently an assistant professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He began his scientific career in the energy storage field with the development of conversion cathode materials under the supervision of Prof. Yong Yang at Xiamen University, where he obtained his BSc in chemistry (2012). He then earned his Ph.D. in 2019 by working with Prof. Jeff Dahn on functional materials for high voltage Li-ion batteries at Dalhousie University with the support of Killam Fellowship. Supported by Dr. Brad. E. Forch Distinguished Postdoc Fellowship, he then moved to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory/University of Maryland for postdoc training (2019-2022) under the supervision of Dr. Kang Xu, Prof. Chunsheng Wang, and Dr. Oleg Borodin. Dr Ma’s research interests focus on the use of electrochemistry and materials science in clean energy technologies(mainly energy storage systems) to address energy and environmental challenges. He is the author and co-author of more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, 1 book and 6 patents. He was the winner of 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators, 2022 Young Investigator Award (Batteries, MDPI), 2021 ECS Battery Division Battery Division Postdoctoral Associate Research Award, 2017 ECS Battery Division Student Research Award. He serves as an active reviewer in the energy field for 80+ publications including Nature, Nature Energy, Journal of Power Sources, ACS Energy Letters, etc.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Wednesday, March 20, Olin 105
Seminar begins at 12noon and lunch service starts at 11:30am
The speaker will be Dundappa Mumbaraddi of the WFU Chemistry department and his talked is titled: “Rare-Earth-Containing Chalcohalides and Intermetallics”
CFM Lunch Seminar
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
This is the February CFM lunch seminar, featuring guest speaker Dr. Carlos Kengla. Dr. Kengla is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering. The seminar will be in Olin 105 at 1pm and lunch will begin at 12:30pm.
Title: Imposing design on biomaterials – examples from tissue engineering
Abstract
Tissue engineering is the practice of organizing biologically compatible materials into structures or environments that recapitulate tissue formation. This talk samples this process with two examples of work in tissue engineering. The first example looks at a project engineering a solution to bone defect injuries. Bone tissue formation requires mechanical integrity and stiffness in order to form reliably. The second example is from a project seeking to recapitulate smooth muscle. Many hollow and tubular organs rely on smooth muscle which functions by contracting in layers of different orientations. Biomaterials in these examples are organized primarily with 3D printing and electrospinning. We will discuss the rationale for using these techniques and how they contribute to the design of biomaterial scaffolding for tissue formation. These examples also represent areas where further scientific investigation can enhance tissue engineering capabilities.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided in the Olin 105 beginning at 12:30 pm, followed by the speaker at 1:00 pm.
Lydia Sosa Vargas, CNRS Research Fellow, who is from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) from Paris, France will be the featured speaker.
Lydia Sosa Vargas is a CNRS researcher at the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry, Sorbonne Université. Originally from Mexico, she obtained her PhD from the University of
East Anglia in the UK. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan and the Pierre
and Marie Curie University (now Sorbonne University) prior to her recruitment at the CNRS. Her research interests involve the molecular design and synthesis of pi-conjugated
materials for applications in organic electronic devices and self-assembly at the nanoscale.
TITLE OF SEMINAR: From molecules to functional materials via supramolecular self-assembly
ABSTRACT:
Supramolecular self-assembly is a key technique for arranging molecular components across scales, offering traits like self-healing and responsiveness to external stimuli.
This method leverages non-covalent interactions to create ordered systems with diverse architectures, enabling efficient nanomaterials engineering. Within our group, we exploit
these interactions to develop functional nanostructured materials, specifically for organic electronic applications such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells, solid-state lasers, and
more recently graphene functionalization.
In this seminar I will be presenting some examples of our recent work; the design and synthesis of supramolecular π-conjugated assemblies (from 1D to 3D-nanostructured
materials), and their use in organic electronics.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
The October speaker is Dr Katelyn Goetz from NIST. The title of the talk will be: “Using and Measuring Excitons for Novel Organic Optoelectronic Devices”.
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided in the Olin 105 beginning at 12:30 pm, followed by the speaker at 1:00 pm. Abstract is below.
Measuring the Properties of Singlet Fission by Using Transistors
Katelyn P. Goetz
Nanoscale Device Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
Excitons are a quasiparticle consisting of an electron and hole bound by the electrostatic Coulomb force. They are formed in materials upon the absorption of a photon with higher energy than the bandgap and are thus an intermediate state in the conversion of light to charge and vice versa. In organic semiconductors, they have a particularly high binding energy. While this property can reduce the efficiency of devices like photovoltaic and light-emitting diodes, its stability in organic semiconductors makes it attractive for novel technologies. This is the focus of our growing excitonics initiative at NIST. For example, we have recently demonstrated a magnetic-field sensor based on an organic light-emitting diode and an organic photovoltaic diode. As a part of advancing this technological effort, we are also investigating the measurement and characterization of the exciton. Properties are often characterized on the ultrafast timescale by using advanced spectroscopic techniques. However, potential device applications raise the need to develop measurements to understand exciton dynamics on a slower, operationally relevant timescale.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
The Department of Chemistry’s Assistant Professor Cedric Schaack will be the CFM speaker and the title of his talk will be “Design Principles for Efficient CP-OLEDs.”
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided in the Olin Lobby Lounge beginning at 12:30 pm, followed by the speaker at 1:00 pm in Olin 105.
**Please note the time change this semester.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Dr. Swathi Kadaba will be the guest speaker and the title of the abstract is Scaling down the printed field-effect transistor: from science to technology readiness.
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided in the Olin Lobby Lounge beginning at 11:30 am.
Abstract:
Scaling down the printed field-effect transistor: from science to technology readiness
Developing electronic devices from solution processing has been seen as a breakthrough as we can utilize high throughput fabrication processes at the fraction of the cost as compared to their silicon counterparts. However, the complex interplay of material properties with the figures of merit of the device renders the dimensional downscaling of a printed field effect transistor (FET) non-trivial. My talk will be divided into two parts: In the first part, I will introduce the scientific efforts into achieving a fully scalable FET using printing technologies and direct writing fabrication that can attain resolutions equivalent to lithographic processes. Having achieved the goal of scaling down the FET channel, I will further show how the figure of merit parameters are affected when the injection electrode is no longer a perfect metal. The second part of my talk will present our initial step into developing a technology based on printed electronic materials. Finally, I will give you an overview of the innovation process in technology development and commercialization as followed in an R&D setting in the industry.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Tuesday, March 28, Olin Room 107, 12 pm
Prof. James Ververs will be the guest speaker. The title of his abstract is “Dosimeters in Radiation Oncology.”
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided in the Olin lobby lounge beginning at 11:30 am.
Abstract:
Radiation therapy (RT) is delivered in clinical radiation oncology departments. In the US alone, these treatments are received by hundreds of thousands of cancer patients every year. In general, the therapeutic goal is to deliver a tumoricidal dose to a focused area (the “target”) while minimizing, as much as possible, the dose to surrounding organs and tissues. Dosimeters are the detectors used to measure radiation dose.
This talk will focus on the fundamental need for direct measurement as the underpinning of the RT process. Historical examples of what can happen when calculation results are presumed, rather than measured and verified, will be shared. The talk will also present some fundamentals of the sources used to deliver RT and the dosimeter types commonly used to perform a variety of clinically necessary measurements. Applications of the resulting measured data will be discussed, along with the materials used in dosimeters designed for different purposes. Some limitations of current dosimeters will also be described, along with a potential solution which we are actively exploring, in collaboration with the Jurchescu lab, as a novel type of dosimeter.
CFM Lunch Seminar
Tuesday, February 21, 2023, 12 pm
Lunch will be provided in the Olin Lobby Lounge at 11:30 am and talk will follow by Guglielmo Lanzani at 12 noon in Olin 107. The title of his abstract is “Organic semiconductor nanoparticles restore vision in blind retinas.”
CFM Lunch Seminar
Tuesday, November 22, 2022, 12 pm
Lunch will be provided in the Olin Lobby Lounge at 11:30 am and talk will follow by Professor Nicole Levi at 12 noon in Olin 105. The title of Professor Levi’s talk is From solar energy to medical applications: the beauty of conductive polymers.
CFM Seminar
Thursday, October 27, 2022, Olin Room 105, 12 pm
This is our monthly CFM Seminar and lunch will be provided.
Dr. Maria Kolesnik-Gray ” 2D and 1D confinement at room temperature – black phosphorous and 4H-SiC”
Dr Vojislav Krstic “Helical nanostructures.. PT violation and quantum cooperative dichroism signatures.”
CFM Seminar
September 20, 2022, 2:00pm, Olin 101
Diarenoindacenes and Diindenoarenes: From Antiaromatic
Semiconducting Materials to Stable, Tunable Organic Diradicals
Presenter: Michael M. Haley, Richard M. & Patricia H. Noyes Professor,
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Dr. Haley will present their synthetic, structural, computational and materials studies of a class of
carbon-rich semiconducting molecules based on the indenofluorene (IF) skeleton. 1 Access to the fully conjugated, 20 π-electron, formally antiaromatic system is accomplished via a variety of intermediate diones. These molecules in turn can be assembled via well-known organic possesses (Suzuki cross-coupling, benzylic oxidation, Friedel-Crafts acylation/alkylation). 1 Optimization of their synthesis now permits access to IF derivatives in multigram quantities. We
have shown that thin films or single crystals of several different IF scaffolds can serve as an active layer in organic field effect transistors (OFETs). 2 Current studies are focused on varying the antiaromaticity of the indacene unit by systematic alteration of the outer benzene groups with other aromatic units 3 as well as on increasing the diradical character of the
framework by expansion of the quinoidal core. 4
CFM Seminar
April 28, 2022 12:15 pm, Olin 105
Presentation by Elham Ghadiri, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry.
Dr. Ghadiri will speak on the following topic: “Ultrafast photochemistry in nanostructures for energy conversion and biomedical applications”.
CFM Seminar
March 24, 2022 12:15pm, 105 Olin
Our Guest Speakers are Gabriel Marcus and LIndsey Gray, Department of Physics. This is a two-handed seminar and they will speak on the “Center of Nanotechnology updates: Seebeck ion pump and solar collector”.
Here are the introductions to their talks:
Gabriel Marcus – Chalcogenide-based thermoelectrics rely on the Seebeck effect to directly convert temperature gradients into electric voltages, and they have been used extensively as energy harvesters. In recent years, these materials have been investigated for another potential application: Seebeck-mediated ion transport. Here, I will introduce some aspects of a combined carrier-ionic Seebeck effect as well as data obtained from experiments carried out at the WFU Nanotech Center using molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as a thermoelectric ion pump. Based on results from measurements of voltage and osmolarity changes across heated MoS2 membranes, we believe we have found an effective and inexpensive method of transporting ions via temperature gradients. Novel types of desalination and rechargeable battery technologies that incorporate MoS2 as a thermoelectric ion transporter will be discussed as well.
Lindsey Gray – The second half of the talk is based on a hybrid photovoltaic thermal collector. The photovoltaic absorbs radiation in the visible wavelength region while the thermal system consists of an infrared absorbing thermal fluid, which contains an ultraviolet downshifting dye. Through the use of a 3D curved architecture, we have shown that under solar simulation our design is able to generate more electrical energy than a planar Si PV of the same performance. In addition to the increased electrical performance there is 35 W/m2 of thermal energy generated which otherwise would damage the quality of the PV over time, a common issue with planar traditional PVs. The part of our talk will conclude with the increased thermal performance of the system due to the downshifting dye.
CFM Seminar
February 24, 2022 12:15pm Wake Downtown, Classroom 4903
This is our monthly CFM Seminar. Our Guest Speaker is Sixbert P. Muhoza, Department of Engineering, here at WFU, who will speak on “Preserving Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Nanomaterials at High Temperature for High Electrochemical Performance”.
Directions: as you enter Wake Downtown from the street, take the elevator to the 4th floor. Out of the elevator take a left, all the way down to the end of the corridor. Then make a right, following the corridor around. Classroom 4903 is the last room on the right, overlooking the street.
CFM Seminar
March 27, 2019, 12:00 noon, Olin 107
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Dr. Timo Thonhauser, our center director will present his research expertise and availability of equipment in their research labs. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
May 1, 2019, 12:00 noon, Wake Downtown, 455 Vine St, Rm 4802
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Prof. Jurchescu (WFU, Department of Physics) and Prof. Gross (WFU, Department of Engineering) will present their research expertise and availability of equipment in their research labs. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
September 4, 2019, 12:00 noon, Olin 107
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Prof. Welker (WFU, Department of Chemistry) and Prof. Geyer (WFU, Department of Chemistry) will present their research expertise and availability of equipment in their research labs. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
October 2, 2019, 12:00 noon, Olin 107
This is our monthly CFM seminar and two center members (TBD) will present their research expertise and availability of equipment in their research labs. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
November 6, 2019, 12:00 noon, Olin 107
This is our monthly CFM seminar and our guests will be Dr. Richard Williams, Reynolds Professor, Department of Physics and Dr. Martin Guthold, Professor, Department of Physics. Dr. Guthold will be presenting on “Materials Research in the Guthold Lab”. The seminar will begin at 12:00 noon and lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
August 26, 2021 12:00 noon
This is our monthly CFM seminar and new faculty will present their research expertise and availability of equipment in their research labs. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
September 2, 2021 12:00 Noon, 107 Olin
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Prof. Stephen Winter (WFU, Department of Physics) will present his research expertise. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
September 23, 2021 12:00 noon, Olin 107
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Sajant Anand, PhD, Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA who will speak on “Holographic Quantum Simulation via Isometric Tensor Networks”. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
October 14, 2021 12:00 Noon, Wake Downtown, Room 1617
This is our monthly CFM seminar and Prof. Erin Henslee (WFU, Department of Engineering) will present her research on Investigating the Cellular Electrome as as Biomarker in Red Blood Cell Physiology and Pathology. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
November 4, 2021 12:00 Noon, 107 OIin
This is our monthly CFM Seminar. Details TBA. Lunch will be provided.
CFM Seminar
January 27, 2022 12:15pm, Virtual
This is our monthly CFM Seminar. Our Guest Speaker is Angela F. Harper, Cambridge University who will speak on “Extending first principles spectroscopy to disordered materials: a study on crystalline and amorphous alumina”.