When a negatively charged, high molecular weight polymer (hyaluronic acid) is mixed with a positively charged peptide-based, self-assembling molecule, a membrane is instantaneously formed at the interface of the two solutions. These closed membranes (sacs) have a complex hierarchical structure which presents a unique challenge in quantifying its mechanical properties. Membrane inflation and osmotic swelling techniques have been used to quantitatively characterize the membrane properties. These findings will be

Optical properties of layered materials can be controlled manipulating the discrete number of atomically-thin two-dimensional crystal layers. Unique amongst the layered transition metal dichalcogenides, ReS2 has optical emission that is linearly polarized and proportional to layer number.

LCMRC researchers have discovered that solutions in water of pieces of DNA only a few nanometers long (nanoDNA) can form liquid crystal phases if the DNA is complementary, that is if it can form double-helixed pairs. These duplex pairs then stack up end-to-end to form rod-shaped aggregates that make the liquid crystal phases. In a mixture with some DNA that is not complementary the duplex forming DNA phase separates, condensing into liquid crystal droplets.

Topological superconductors are a distinct form of matter that is predicted to host boundary Majorana fermions. These quasi-particles are the emergent condensed matter analogs of the putative elementary spin-1/2 particles originally proposed by Ettore Majorana in the 1930’s with the intriguing property of being their own anti-particles. The search for Majorana quasi-particle bound states in condensed matter systems is motivated in part by their potential use as topological qubits to perform fault-tolerant computation aided by their

A multi-partner collaborative effort has focused on understanding semiconductor-oxide interfaces.  This involves atomic layer precision in synthesis of the structures, correlating the structure and electronic properties using first principles, and obtaining subatomic resolution of structures from synchrotron x-ray diffraction a the Advanced Photon Source (Argonne National Laboratory) and electron micrsocopy (Brookhaven National Laboratory).  The outcomes of these studies are critical for the design of ferroelectric field effect transistors.

UCI MRSEC researchers have performed the first in-depth time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy study on molecular active materials formed under dissipative self-assembly conditions and compared the results to the same molecular formed under thermodynamic control. They found that the dissipative self-assembly conditions can stabilize the formation on transient, thermodynamically unstable phases and that these phases can be highly ordered.

Many species of birds have feathers with colors that are the result of light scattering from a disordered arrangement of nanoscale air spheres. The feathers appear to be the same color from every angle. Inspired by these beautiful feathers, we design structures of polymer nanoparticles that produce color the same way. This is a new way to make color from nanostructures and could be useful for textiles, coatings, and cosmetics.