Research Overview

      The central theme of our research program is functional surfaces and interfaces with specific applications in nanomaterials and nanoelectronics. Surfaces as the outmost boundary play a critical role in the functions of materials and devices. The need of surface engineering for nanomaterials and nanodevices is both inherent, i.e., high surface energy at the nanoscale, and application driven where ligands presented on the surface act as points of contact communicating with external receptors. An intricate balance must be achieved in order to provide the multifaceted functions of the surface ligands in preventing nanomaterials from agglomerating, presenting the necessary molecular recognition functions, and at the same time preserving the physical properties of the nanomaterials for translating the molecular recognition events into reliable readouts. Research in our laboratory focuses on developing new surface chemistry that is general, efficient, can accommodate ligand diversity, maintain ligand bioaffinity, and give bioactive and stable interfaces. Current projects focus on the synthesis of functional nanomaterials and their applications in theranosis and nanoelectronics. Students graduated from our laboratory have found employment in academia and industrial sectors such as semiconductor, biotechnology, and chemical analysis.