News

November 21, 2008

Friday, 3PM
8 Saint Mary’s Street, PHO 210

Dr. Ilhan A. Aksay
Chemical Engineering Department, Princeton University

Biologically Inspired Organic-Inorganic Nanocomposites

Abstract:

Biologically produced materials are multifunctional and have properties, e.g., sensing and actuation, self-replication, self-healing that we are yet to introduce into man-made materials. The objective of this presentation will be to provide an understanding of the biological processes for controlling materials properties through nano- and microstructural design and processing with the goal of attaining multifunctionality. “Self-assembly” and “pixelation” are the prevailing mechanisms used in the construction of biological structures. Self-assembly is now recognized as an economically favorable technique for rapid fabrication of nanostructures similar to those observed in biological systems. However, the current methods suffer from drawbacks that limit their application: (i) Self-assembled structures have uncontrolled multiple domains at micrometer and larger length scales due to the statistical nature of domain nucleation and growth. (ii) The location of individual structures cannot be controlled, making integration into macroscopic structures difficult. (iii) The small size and high density of self-assembled units require new methods of addressing, differentiating, and interconnecting. To address these drawbacks, I will demonstrate examples of the integration of self-assembled nm- to μm-scale building blocks into spatially defined (“pixelated”) macroscopic structures. As an alternative approach, I will also demonstrate how some of the structural design principles utilized in biological nanocomposites can be used with nanofillers such as molecular sheets of graphene to produce polymer matrix composites that display multifunctional properties.

Bio:

Ilhan Aksay is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Princeton University. He earned his B.Sc. (1967) in ceramic engineering at the University of Washington and his M.Sc. (1969) and Ph.D. (1973) in materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining Princeton in 1992, his teaching and research affiliations included appointments at the University of Washington (1983-92); UCLA (1981-83); the Middle East Technical University, Ankara (1975-81); and Xerox Corporation, Webster Research Center (1973-75). At the University of Washington he held the Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratory Professorship in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (1987-92) until his departure for Princeton University in 1992. Presently, he is also the director of NASA funded institute on Biologically Inspired Materials (BIMat – http://www.bimat.org/ ).

His research activities include the processing science of ceramic matrix composites, thermodynamics and phase equilibria in materials systems, diffusion and structural studies in ionic systems, interfacial reactions and capillarity phenomena, and the utilization of water-based colloidal and biomimetic techniques in ceramic processing. In recent years Prof. Aksay’s work has been heavily influenced by biomimetics and bioinspired processing, focusing on the use of complex fluids to control the architecture of organic/ceramic nanocomposites. He and his coworkers’ research has been recognized not only by contributions to the literature on the fundamentals of ceramic processing (over 300 articles) but also by products produced by the industry, holding 23 patents in materials processing.