Faculty | Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network

Over 100 faculty members from the 3 partner universities support the development of new processes, tools, and instrumentation within the RTNN community. Our faculty affiliates have deep expertise across a broad array of topics in the following 6 emerging areas of nanotechnology research.

Below is a list of RTNN’s principal faculty experts, sorted by category. Click the corresponding category to view all the faculty associated with that area of research.

Select any of the categories below to view faculty with related research/interests

Interfaces, Metamaterials, Fluidics, and Heterogeneous Integration

Donald Brenner ( MSE, NC State ) – brenner@ncsu.edu
Atomistic and multi-scale modeling approaches to analyze, understand, and predict properties of nanostructures and how these properties can be related to macroscopic scale behavior.

Jim Cahoon ( Chemistry, UNC-CH ) – jfcahoon@ad.unc.edu
Combination of synthetic chemical control of semiconductor nanowires and nanomaterials with detailed physical characterization and modeling to rationally design new functional materials and devices.

Linyou Cao ( MSE, NC State ) – lcao2@ncsu.edu
Engineering materials and functionality at the atomic level to develop flexible photonic/optoelectronic circuits and ideal photocatalysts for water splitting/carbon dioxide reduction with solar energy.

Michael Escuti ( ECE, NC State ) – mjescuti@ncsu.edu
Fundamental principles of highly structured 2D and 3D liquid crystal thin films, and more generally geometric phase holograms, in both simulation and experiment for various photonics contexts and devices, including sensors, displays, telecommunications, imaging, and spectroscopy.

Richard Fair ( ECE, Duke ) – rfair@duke.edu
Applications for lab-on-a-chip technology in environmental engineering, biosensing, diagnostics, and genomics and across many disciplines such as ECE, CEE, chemistry, genomics, biochemistry, microsystems engineering, and computer science.

Boyce Griffith ( Mathematics/BME, UNC-CH ) – boyceg@email.unc.edu
Numerical methods and computational infrastructure for simulating fluid-structure systems. In ongoing collaborative work, these methods are being extended from macroscale systems to micro- and nanoscale systems, including colloidal suspensions and the dynamics of chromosomal DNA, in which thermal fluctuations play an important role in the system dynamics.

Jacob Jones ( MSE, NC State ) – jacobjones@ncsu.edu
Structure-property-processing relationships in emerging materials through the use of advanced diffraction tools and techniques for in situ characterization. Functional materials, including dielectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and multiferroic crystals, thin films, and ceramics with applications including imapct and displacement sensors, actuators, capacitors, nano- and micro-electromechanical (MEMS) systems, diesel fuel injectors, vibrational energy harvesting, sonar, and ultrasound. Director of RTNN and the Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF).

Rene Lopez ( Physics, UNC-CH ) – rln@physics.unc.edu
Intersection between electromagnetic radiation and nanostructured materials. Beyond its well established footprint in telecommunications, the physics of light manipulation and control with/within nanoscale materials is nowadays a rendezvous point for solar energy harvesting, chemical sensors, and photonic structures with a variety of applications.

Tom Meyer ( Chemistry, UNC-CH ) – tjmeyer@email.unc.edu
Photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion by artificial photosynthesis with the goal of producing solar fuels, hydrogen and oxygen by water splitting, and water-driven reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon fuels. Director of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC).

Greg Parsons ( CBE, NC State ) – gnp@ncsu.edu
Surface chemistry and chemical processing of thin film materials by atomic and molecular layer deposition, including nanoscale surface chemistry on polymers and fibrous media, thin film metal organic frameworks, and applications in advanced electronic, security, and renewable energy generation and storage. Director of NC State University’s Nanotechnology Initiative to support cross-disciplinary research.

Melissa Pasquinelli ( TECS, NC State ) – melissa_pasquinelli@ncsu.edu
Modeling and simulation to investigate the interfacial characteristics of a material at the nanoscale, and how those characteristics can be controlled or tuned by adjusting the chemical composition, processing conditions, and the physical and chemical environments.

J. Michael Ramsey ( Chemistry/BME/APSc/Genome Sciences, UNC-CH ) – jmramsey@unc.edu
Micro- and nano-fabricated measurement devices for the identification and quantification of chemical and biochemical materials.

Lew Reynolds ( MSE, NC State ) – lew_reynolds@ncsu.edu
Thin film epitaxial growth of group II-oxides and group III-V semiconductor materials and devices for solar cells, LEDs and electronic applications.

Carlos Luis Salas Araujo ( Forest Biomaterials, NC State ) – clsalasa@ncsu.edu
Colloids and surface chemistry, with interest on the self assembly of nanomaterials at interfaces and development of functional materials from sustainable biomaterials.

Zlatko Sitar ( MSE, NC State ) – sitar@ncsu.edu
Growth and characterization of III-nitride crystals and epitaxial film; control of extended and point defects; development of UV light emitters and vertical power devices.

Steve Soper ( BME/Chemistry, UNC-CH ) – ssoper@email.unc.edu
Novel substrate polymeric materials and their surface modification to form, via lithographic techniques, mixed scale structures (from nm to mm). These structures are being integrated into fluidic devices for applications in biomedical discovery and/or diagnostics.

Adrienne Stiff-Roberts ( ECE, Duke ) – adrienne.stiffroberts@duke.edu
Synthesis of multi-component and hybrid (organic-inorganic) materials using a novel approach for organic-based thin film deposition that combines solution and vacuum-processing. Known as emulsion-based, resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE), this technique offers a completely new way to integrate novel functions into organic-based films and devices that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve otherwise. Research efforts include materials synthesis and characterization to investigate the fundamental mechanisms of thin-film growth using RIR-MAPLE, as well as device fabrication and characterization for a broad range of applications (especially optoelectronic and energy devices).

Orlin Velev ( CBE, NC State ) – odvelev@ncsu.edu
Fundamental and exploratory projects in colloids, microfluidics and nanoscience. The major thrust is the controlled on-chip assembly of colloidal particles into advanced materials and microscopic functional structures. Our research could underlie future technologies for fabrication of chemical and biological sensors, photonic devices, microscale materials synthesis, bioelectronic interfacing, and rapid fabrication of nanostructured coatings and materials.

Daryoosh Vashaee ( ECE, NC State ) – dvashae@ncsu.edu
Development of nanocomposite electronic materials with the emphasis on thermoelectric and thermomagnetic energy conversion.

Scott Warren ( Chemistry/APSc, UNC-CH ) – scw@email.unc.edu
Synthesis of novel layered and 2D materials, characterization and simulation of their optoelectronic properties, and their integration into novel devices for solar energy, batteries, spectroscopy, and catalysis.

Mark Wiesner ( CEE, Duke ) – wiesner@duke.edu
Research addressing interfacial chemistry of nanomaterials, the role of surface chemistry in determining nanoparticle transport, and bio-uptake in environmental and physiological systems.

Wei You ( Chemistry/APSc, UNC-CH ) – wyou@unc.edu
Synthesis and characterization of novel multifunctional organic based materials for various applications (photonics, electronics, and biomedical), interfacing chemistry, physics, and material sciences & engineering. Synthesis of novel organic materials with clearly defined rationale and creative design. Fabrication of devices to elucidate the structures/properties relationship, and to help address outstanding fundamental questions in individual research field.

Stefan Zauscher ( MEMS, Duke ) – zauscher@duke.edu
Bio-surface and interface science, broadly focused on fabrication, manipulation and characterization of surface-confined biomolecular and polymeric micro- and nanostructures.

Nanomaterials for Biology and Environmental Assessment

Nancy Allbritton ( Chemistry (UNC-CH)/BME (NCSU), UNC-CH/NCSU ) – nlallbri@email.unc.edu
Analytical techniques for single-cell biochemical assays, microfabricated platforms for sorting and cloning cells, and microengineered systems for recapitulating organ level function.

M. Gregory Forest ( Mathematics/BME/APSc, UNC-CH ) – forest@amath.unc.edu
Development of computational models to explore various nanoscale processes: dynamic organization of DNA in living cells; cell motility mechanisms; particle and pathogen transport in biological fluids (especially mucus which lines every organ in the human body); and hydrodynamic transport of complex fluids including nano-composites and biological fluids such as mucus. These modeling projects are all in collaboration with experimentalists and clinical scientists at UNC-CH from Biology (Kerry Bloom), Physics (David Hill), the Marsico Lung Institute (Ric Boucher, Martina Gentzsch, Scott Randell, David Hill, Scott Donaldson, Rob Tarran, and others), Biophysics and Biochemistry (Ken Jacobson), Pharmacy (Sam Lai and Leaf Huang), and Pharmacology (Tim Elston). Director of the Carolina Center for Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics.

Helen Hsu-Kim ( CEE, Duke ) – hsukim@duke.edu
The environmental fate of engineered and naturally occurring nanomaterials, including metallic, metal oxide, and metal sulfide nanoparticles, focusing on the environmental transformations of nanoparticles and how nanostructured geomaterials alters the bioavailability of metals for organisms.

Leaf Huang ( Pharmacy, UNC-CH ) – leafh@email.unc.edu
Developing nanomedicines for cancer chemo and immune therapies.

Alexander Kabanov ( Pharmacy, UNC-CH ) – kabanov@email.unc.edu
Nanomedicines and engineered cellular therapies for cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative disorders, and other life threatening diseases. Basic knowledge and skill in polymer chemistry, pharmaceutics and bioengineering are applied to advance cutting edge concepts, and translate the breakthrough ideas to clinic to improve human life.

Thom LaBean ( MSE, NC State ) – thlabean@ncsu.edu
Biological macromolecules (e.g. DNA and polypeptides) as engineering materials for creating molecular assemblies with low-nanometer-scale feature resolution. These programmable molecular materials are developed for applications in biomedical areas and also for the biomimetic fabrication of nanoelectronic devices.

Mehmet Ozturk ( ECE, NC State ) – mco@ncsu.edu
New materials, processes, and device structures for nanoelectronics, including low-temperature epitaxy of Group IV materials and self-aligned silicides on these materials (focused on source/drain and channel engineering of nanoscale MOS transistors) and flexible thermoelectric devices for body energy harvesting and other applications. Director of the NCSU Nanofabrication Facility (NNF).

Michael Rubinstein ( Chemistry/APSc, UNC-CH ) – mr@unc.edu
(1) Friction, adhesion, adsorption, and grafting of polymers at surfaces and interfaces. (2) Measurements and modeling of extracellular matrix and its role in health and disease. (5) Building and solving molecular models of various polymeric systems to understand their properties and design new systems with even more interesting and useful properties. These models are simple enough to be solved either analytically or numerically, but contain the main features leading to unique properties of real polymers.

Franky So ( MSE, NC State ) – fso@ncsu.edu
Synthesis, physics, and chemistry of nanomaterials and nanostructure for energy applications.

Anne Taylor ( BME, UNC-CH ) – amtaylor@unc.edu
Development of novel micro- and nano-scale tools to study the micron-sized connections between neurons (i.e., synapses), which are extremely polarized cells which can form thousands of synapses with other neurons in the brain.

Mark Wiesner ( CEE, Duke ) – wiesner@duke.edu
Nanomaterials transport and fate, bringing together physical-chemical aspects of nanoparticle behavior and impact at experimental scales, ranging from laboratory to mesocosm with the goal of obtaining information to assess possible risks posed by nanomaterials.

Organic and Inorganic 1-D and 2-D Nanomaterials

Harald Ade ( Physics, NC State ) – Harald_Ade@ncsu.edu
Development of novel synchrotron characterization methods (NEXAFS microscopy, resonant small angle scattering) and their use to establish structure-function relationships in organic devices that range from thin film transistors to photovoltaic devices.

Philip Bradford ( TECS, NC State ) – philip_bradford@ncsu.edu
Research at the intersection of textiles and materials sciences. Currently, the main focus of his group is to produce very high aspect ratio carbon nanotubes, process them into fabrics and explore the properties, and application space of these unique structures.

Elizabeth Dickey ( MSE, NC State ) – ecdickey@ncsu.edu
Development of pocessing-structure-property relationships for materials in which the physical properties are governed by point defects, grain boundaries or interfaces through the use of an array of analytical techniques, in particular electron microscopy and spectroscopy, to understand the structure and chemistry of materials at the nanometer length scale.

Aaron Franklin ( ECE, Duke ) – aaron.franklin@duke.edu
Development of novel synchrotron characterization methods (NEXAFS microscopy, resonant small angle scattering) and their use to establish structure-function relationships in organic devices that range from thin film transistors to photovoltaic devices.

Wei Gao ( TECS, NC State ) – wgao5@ncsu.edu
Carbon materials research (graphene and carbon nanotubes) and their integration with textile technologies and energy storage & conversion devices, such as supercapacitors, batteries, and fuel cells.

Lubos Mitas ( Physics, NC State ) – lmitas@unity.ncsu.edu
Low-dimensional systems such as nanowires and 2-D doped systems. Recent applications include spintronic systems such as Vanadium-Benzene multi-decker nanowires as prototypes for spin valves.

David Mitzi ( MEMS, Duke ) – david.mitzi@duke.edu
Design, synthesis, and characterization of functional organic-inorganic hybrid materials and on the application of such materials in energy and electronic applications, as well as photovoltaic modeling.

Sunkyu Park ( Forest Biomaterials, NC State ) – sunkyu_park@ncsu.edu
Molecular-level understanding of biomass chemistry and structure to develop the sustainable production of biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials from lignocellulosic biomass (e.g. wood, stover, bagasse).

Lew Reynolds ( MSE, NC State ) – lew_reynolds@ncsu.edu
Fundamental investigations of the structural, optical and electrical properties of GaAsSb-based nanowires for photodetectors in the 1-2 um wavelength regime using HRTEM, Raman and photoluminescence.

Franky So ( MSE, NC State ) – fso@ncsu.edu
Synthesis, physics, and chemistry of nanomaterials and nanostructure for energy applications.

Joe Tracy ( MSE, NC State ) – jbtracy@ncsu.edu
Synthesis, characterization, and self-assembly of colloidal magnetic, metallic, and semiconductor nanoparticles, and their applications in composite materials, medicine, and catalysis.

Ben Wiley ( Chemistry, Duke ) – benjamin.wiley@duke.edu
Synthesis of new nanomaterials by controlling the assembly of atoms in solution for applications of nanomaterials in medicine, catalysis, plasmonics, and electronics. Study of processes to precisely control the size, shape, and composition of materials on the nanometer scale to explore how these parameters affect the fundamental properties of a material, and produce such nanomaterials economically so they can be applied to solve real-world problems.

Xiangwu Zhang ( TECS, NC State ) – xzhang13@ncsu.edu
Nanostructured and multifunctional polymer, composite, fiber, and textile materials with an emphasis on practical applications: i) energy storage and conversion, ii) chemical and biological protection, iii) composites, and iv) nanofinishing. Both fundamental materials studies such as synthesis and physical characterization, as well as system design and fabrication.

Yong Zhu ( MAE, NC State ) – yzhu7@ncsu.edu
In-situ electron microscopy and spectroscopy study of mechanical behaviors of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials, and exploring nanomaterial-enabled flexible and stretchable electronics.

Textile Nanoscience and Flexible Integrated Systems

Stephen Craig ( Chemistry, Duke ) – stephen.craig@duke.edu
Research bridging physical organic and materials chemistry, including the design and synthesis of self-healing polymers and the use of contemporary mechanochemistry in new stress-responsive polymers, catalysis, and the study of reactive intermediates and transition states.

Ericka Ford ( TECS, NC State ) – enford@ncsu.edu
Fiber research to achieve high strength and functionality. Performance behaviors are derived from an understanding of how composite interfaces and surface chemistry are tailored upon processing.

Russell Gorga ( TECS, NC State ) – russell_gorga@ncsu.edu
Fabrication and characterization of novel nanofibers and nanocomposite nanofibers for a variety of applications.

Jesse Jur ( TECS, NC State ) – jesse_jur@ncsu.edu
Development of innovative methods for new electronic and electro-optical modifications to polymer films, fibers, and fabrics, inspired by system-level research strategies that relate textiles and electronics to realize current and future opportunities in wearable and flexible technologies.

Melissa Pasquinelli ( CNR, NC State ) – melissa_pasquinelli@ncsu.edu
Modeling and simulation to investigate how the properties of fibrous and textile systems are impacted by nanoscale features, such as molecular alignments, chemical composition, nanoscopic surface roughness, degree of degradation, and the presence of chemical entities such as water, oxygen, or impurities.

Jon Rust ( TECS, NC State ) – jrust@ncsu.edu
Surface modification of fiber, polymer, and textile substrates for specific functionality. Fabrication of textile structures from nano-science enhanced raw materials. Director of Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE).

Daryoosh Vashaee ( ECE, NC State ) – dvashae@ncsu.edu
Development of thermoelectric generators for body heat harvesting and their integration with wearable electronics within ASSIST, an NSF sponsored Engineering Research Center at NC State.

Yong Zhu ( MAE, NCSU ) – yzhu7@ncsu.edu
In-situ electron microscopy and spectroscopy study of mechanical behaviors of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials, and exploring nanomaterial-enabled flexible and stretchable electronics.

Nanomaterials Simulation and Modeling

Max Berkowitz ( Chemistry, UNC-CH ) – maxb@unc.edu
Computer simulation techniques to study properties of model biological membranes. Specifically, pore creation in the membranes due to mechanical stress caused by impinging shock waves and also due to tension caused by interactions with antimicrobial peptides.

Jerry Bernholc ( Physics, NC State ) – bernholc@ncsu.edu
Theory and simulation of nanomaterials and nanodevices, including nano and molecular electronics, 2D nanomaterials and devices, biomolecular sensors, and energy storage mechanisms in polymers. Development and distribution of open-source highly parallel codes for quantum simulations of materials.

Stefano Curtarolo ( MEMS, Duke ) – stefano@duke.edu
Computational materials science, particularly the development of the high-throughput materials design framework AFLOW. Specific areas of interest include metallic alloys and the materials thermodynamics.

Elena Jakubikova ( Chemistry, NCSU ) – ejakubi@ncsu.edu
Computational chemistry, especially density functional theory and quantum dynamics, to investigate structure-property relationships in light-harvesting materials. Special areas of interest include computational studies of large arrays of chromophores and investigation of processes at dye-nanoparticle interfaces with applications to dye-sensitized solar cells.

Yosuke Kanai ( Chemistry, UNC-CH ) – ykanai@unc.edu
Development and use of computational methods based on first-principles quantum mechanical theory for investigating various materials and other condensed phase systems at the electronic and atomistic levels.

Ki Wook Kim ( ECE, NC State ) – kwk@ncsu.edu
Theory and modeling of nanoscale devices and materials including the first principles calculation.

Hisham Massoud ( ECE, Duke ) – massoud@ee.duke.edu
Physics, modeling, simulation, and characterization of micro and nano electronic devices. Special interests are nano dielectrics materials for nanoscale MOSFETs for CMOS, tunneling, and fundamental limits in the operation of devices.

Lubos Mitas ( Physics, NC State ) – lmitas@unity.ncsu.edu
Pioneering quantum Monte Carlo methods for high-accuracy electronic structure calculations of nanomaterials, including predictions of the lowest isomers of carbon clusters, doped silicon clusters for nanophotonics, and smallest nano magnets.

Katherine Newhall ( Mathematics, UNC-CH ) – knewhall@unc.edu
Understanding large-scale and long-time dynamics of physical and biological systems through analysis and simulations of simple yet physically relevant models. These mathematical problems also help to explain experimentally observable phenomena, exposing underlying mechanisms to intuitively explain the system’s behavior.

Melissa Pasquinelli ( CNR, NC State ) – melissa_pasquinelli@ncsu.edu
Modeling and simulation techniques “from the nanoscale” to optimize the properties of materials, starting from the molecular building blocks and working toward the microscopic and macroscopic scales. These techniques enable the prediction of the ways molecular structures and the dynamics of molecular systems relate to their functional roles, and how the characteristics of these systems are affected by thermodynamics as well as their physical and chemical environments.

Brian Reich ( Statistics, NC State ) – bjreich@ncsu.edu
New Bayesian and spatial methods for complex data with applications areas including environmental problems and uncertainty quantification.

Ralph Smith ( Mathematics, NC State ) – rsmith@ncsu.edu
Mathematical modeling of transductive materials, numerical methods for physical systems, parameter estimation, uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis, control theory.

Cormac Toher ( MEMS, Duke ) – cormac.toher@duke.edu
Computational materials science, particularly the development of high-throughput materials design frameworks such as AFLOW. Specific phenomena of interest include the thermal and elastic properties of materials.

Mark Wiesner ( CEE, Duke ) – wiesner@duke.edu
Processes of nanoparticle transport, aggregation, chemical transformation, and bio-uptake are modeled mathematically and integrated with hazard models to simulate potential risks.

Alyson Wilson ( Statistics, NC State ) – agwilso2@ncsu.edu
Integration of diverse sources of information to support inference and uncertainty quantification, with particular interest in Bayesian statistical methods.

Yara Yingling ( MSE, NC State ) – yara_yingling@ncsu.edu
Development of advanced computational models and novel algorithms for multiscale molecular modeling of various processes in nanocomposite, soft, and biological materials.

Mohammed Zikry ( MAE, NC State ) – zikry@ncsu.edu
Multi-scale modeling of failure nanomaterials with a focus on defect evolution, crack nucleation, and interactions with interfaces, such as grain-boundaries, preciptates, and alloying elements.

Social, Ethical, and Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

David Berube ( Communications, NC State ) – dmberube@ncsu.edu
Assessment and the social science of nanoscience, including societal and environmental implications of nanoscience on publics.

Khara Grieger ( Applied Ecology, NC State ) – kdgriege@ncsu.edu
Leads the Interdisciplinary Risk Sciences research group, and works on a range of projects related to responsible innovation of emerging technologies, including nanomaterials. For instance, she is the PI of a USDA/NIFA grant focused on understanding the societal implications and stakeholder perceptions of nanomaterials in the farm to fork continuum, PI on a Society for Risk Analysis-funded initiative to grow the field of risk science, Co-PI on a NC State-funded GRIP4PSI project (Sweet-APPS), Co-Lead for a EU-US research consortium on Risk Management and Control, and an advisory board member for a large European project focused on nanomaterial risk governance.

Gail Jones ( Science Education, NC State ) – Gail_Jones@ncsu.edu
Director of the Nanoscale Science Education Research Group that is investigating how people learn scale and scaling, the role of haptics (touch) in learning, and effective strategies for learning nanoscale science.

JoAnn Keyton ( Communication, NC State ) – jkeyton@ncsu.edu
Team and organizational communication, including group dynamics, team science, organizational culture, and interorganizational collaboration.

Jennifer Kuzma ( Genetic Engineering and Society Center, NC State ) – jkuzma@ncsu.edu
Research on 1) public perception and engagement, 2) policy processes, 3) governance systems, and 4) risk analysis for emerging technologies–including nanomaterials, genetically engineered organisms, and convergent applications at the nanotechnology-biotechnology interface.

Mark Wiesner ( CEE, Duke ) – wiesner@duke.edu
Work in the Center for the Environmental Implications for NanoTechnology (CEINT) includes efforts on nanomaterial synthesis, detection in complex media, exposure, transport, and fate; impacts at the cellular, organismal, and ecosystem scales; and modeling and risk forecasting.

Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials for Food and Agriculture

Haotian Zheng ( CALS, NC State ) – hzheng23@ncsu.edu
Fundamental and applied research for revealing mechanisms of formation of food structure for 1) improving processability of food materials; 2) improving physical stability of processed food products; 3) for improving textural attributes (mouthfeel) of processed foods; 4) for improving digestibility and bioaccessibility of nutrients.