Science doesn’t stop for a storm

Science doesn’t stop for a storm

CAFF Director Christy Landes held the most recent Wintergreen Meeting of Physical Chemists (September 23-27,) and even Tropical Storm Ophelia couldn’t stop these brainstorms! From postdoc to professor, 40 researchers gathered to share their work and discuss the latest topics in physical chemistry.

The next Wintergreen Meeting of Physical Chemists will be September 27-October 1, 2025.

2023 Wintergreen Meeting of Physical Chemists Participants

Special thanks to our 2023 participants!

Ultrafast microscopy in review

Ultrafast microscopy in review

In this Center review by the Dionne, Zanni, Gruebele, Roberts, Link, and Landes Groups, our researchers delved into the advancements in ultrafast microscopy techniques, focusing on transient absorption and two-dimensional microscopy which allow us to examine the dynamic behavior of  samples.

The review demonstrates how ultrafast microscopy aids in our understanding of the impact of microscopic heterogeneity on both physical and chemical processes. It may even prove to be integral to advancing quantum yields, exciton lifetimes, and carrier diffusion efficiency for modern technologies in energy conversion, catalysis, and many other areas.

Levine student wins ACS COMP Undergraduate Poster Award at ACS National Meeting Fall 2023

Levine student wins ACS COMP Undergraduate Poster Award at ACS National Meeting Fall 2023

Zain Zaidi with his ACS COMP Undergraduate Poster Award

Undergrad student Zain Zaidi (Levine Group, Stony Brook University) won the ACS Computers in Chemistry Division’s Undergraduate Poster Award at the ACS National Meeting in San Francisco in August 2023!

Zain is a new member of CAFF and we look forward to helping him grow as he pursues degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Physics. He is currently working on our carbon dot project.

Machine-learned force field transforms computational modeling

Machine-learned force field transforms computational modeling

Examples of coordination geometries adopted by acetate ligands, using descriptive labels suggested in the literature. (28,53)

Modeling the light-driven chemical reactions of semiconducting nanocrystals has been a challenge due to the complex nature of the systems and their size, although these crystals make exceptional materials for optoelectronic devices.

Researchers from Rice University (Rossky Group) and the University of Texas at Austin (Roberts Group) developed a machine-learned force field trained on DFT data to investigate the surface chemistry of one such nanocrystal. In doing so, they were able to show that carboxylate ligands adopt a wide range “tilted-bridge” and “bridge” geometries to passivate the surface of nanocrystals. Their study demonstrates that machine-learned force fields have great potential for use in modeling of semiconducting nanocrystal.

Nanoparticles make it easier to turn light into solvated electrons

Nanoparticles make it easier to turn light into solvated electrons

There are many ways to initiate chemical reactions in liquids, but placing free electrons directly into water, ammonia and other liquid solutions is especially attractive for green chemistry because solvated electrons are inherently clean, leaving behind no side products after they react.

In a published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the Center for Adapting Flaws into Features (CAFF) uncovered the long-sought mechanism of a well-known but poorly understood process that produces solvated electrons via interactions between light and metal.

More links aren’t necessarily better for hybrid nanomaterials

More links aren’t necessarily better for hybrid nanomaterials

Chemists from Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin discovered more isn’t always better when it comes to packing charge-acceptor molecules on the surface of semiconducting nanocrystals.

Rossky, Roberts and colleagues at CAFF systematically studied hybrid materials containing lead sulfide nanocrystals and varying concentrations of an oft-studied organic dye called perylene diimide (PDI). The experiments showed that continually increasing the concentration of PDI on the surface of nanocrystals eventually produced a precipitous drop in electron transfer rates.

Graduate Student Daniel Cotton Defends Thesis

Graduate Student Daniel Cotton Defends Thesis

Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Cotton for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in Spring 2022! Daniel Cotton

Dr. Cotton accepted a postdoctoral position in the Dawlaty Group at the University of Southern California.