Palestrante: Professor T. Randall Lee (Departments of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering and the Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX USA)
Tel: 713-743-2724, Fax: 281-754-4445, E-mail: Este endereço para e-mail está protegido contra spambots. Você precisa habilitar o JavaScript para visualizá-lo.

Abstract: This presentation will describe an emerging class of photonic nanoparticles having systematically tunable absorptions ranging from visible to near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. These nanoparticles serve as versatile applied nanomaterials, where the particles can be optically detected/modulated by irradiation with NIR light. Highlighted here will be the preparation, characterization, and applications of these hollow "nanoshell" particles, which possess a variety of dimensions, chemical compositions, and optical properties. In particular, current synthetic strategies allow the preparation of NIR-active nanoshells that possess diameters as small as 40 nm, which opens the door to new medical diagnostics and therapies, as well as unique opportunities in the energy sector, where such nanoshells offer unique benefits in plasmon-enhanced solar-to-fuel conversion. Separate studies targeting the development of cubic and spherical magnetic nanoparticles for biosensing will also be described, with the unexpected finding that cubic magnetic nanoparticles offer a variety of advantages when compared to the more widely utilized spherical magnetic nanoparticles. A third topic will focus on fluorinated organic thin films, with an emphasis on understanding the minimum degree of fluorination required to give nanoscale "Teflon-like" coatings.

Speaker Bio: T. Randall Lee earned a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Rice University (Magna Cum Laude) and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University before pursuing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech. Currently a member of the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Houston, he holds the title of Cullen Distinguished University Chair, where his research focuses on nanomaterials, including nanoscale surface coatings that inhibit corrosion and resist biofilm formation and nanoparticles for biomedical and energy applications. Additionally, Prof. Lee serves as the Associate Dean of Research for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston. After seven years as an Associate Editor for ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, he is now the Deputy Editor for ACS Applied Nano Materials.

Prof. Lee has published 250 peer-reviewed papers and seven patents/applications while mentoring 25 postdoctoral fellows, 60 graduate students, 91 undergraduate researchers, and 34 visiting scientists/scholars. His awards include the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award (1993), NSF CAREER Award (1995), UH Research Excellence Award (1999), UH-Enron Teaching Excellence Award (1999), HAO Outstanding Faculty Award (2000), UH Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award (2006), and National Science Council of Taiwan Visiting Scholar (2010 & 2016).