Speaker: Shan Jiang, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University
Title: Breaking the Symmetry: New Methods to Create Nanoparticles, Interface and Coating Materials
Abstract: I will discuss the recent progress in my lab to develop nanoparticles and functional materials based on new synthesis methods and self-assembly process. Most of the conventional particles are homogeneous and spherical. We have developed anisotropic non-spherical particles, which have shown interesting properties that have not been explored before. These particles adsorb strongly at interface and assemble into unique structures. We further take advantage of the surface properties and interactions among these novel particles and create structures that can be beneficial to coating applications. In addition, we studied the formulations that employ nanoparticles to achieve new functionalities. It was discovered that binder polymers have a profound impact on nanoparticle distribution, which can drastically change the coating performance. These new technologies offer a platform to build next generation of smart materials that can be broadly applied in areas including surface protection, food packaging, sensing, biomedication and 3D printing.
Bio: Dr. Shan Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department at Iowa State University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working with Professor Steve Granick on Janus particles. After graduation, he furthered his study at MIT Langer lab as a postdoc. He then worked at the Dow Chemical Company Coating Materials as a research scientist. He was the Dow Certified Green Belt Project Leader and worked on binder platform development for different products. Dr. Jiang has filed three U.S. patent applications and published more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His work at Iowa State has been featured on 5 different journal covers. Dr. Jiang was awarded with the Racheff-Intel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research. The technology he participated in developing at Dow received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the R&D 100 Award. He recently received the ACS Younger Chemists Committee Leadership Development Award, the Education Leadership Award, Dean’s Excellence in Learning and Teaching Grant and the 3M non-tenured faculty award. His lab has received funding support from NSF, USDA, ACS-PRF, Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Seed Fund and Regents Innovation Fund.
Seminar Host: Xiaoli Tan