05/13/2025
By Kwok Fan Chow

The Kennedy College of Science, Department of Chemistry, invites you to attend a Ph.D. Dissertation defense by Randall Scanga entitled “Block Copolymer Templated Approaches to Chiral Nanomaterials.”

Degree: Doctoral
Location: Olney Hall, Room 518
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025
Time: 2 p.m. PM

Committee Chair: Prof. James Reuther, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Prof. Marina Ruths, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Prof. Yuyu Sun, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Prof. James Whitten, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:
The development of chiral nanomaterials is of fundamental interest for diverse fields ranging from physics to chemistry and astronomy. Technological impacts for these materials are anticipated in applications including photonics, sensing and catalysis. To improve fundamental understanding key to these applications, it is necessary to establish structure-property relationships. Moreover, successful implementation in these high value applications depends on the measure of dissymmetry for chiral molecules, colloids and assemblies known as the g-factor. To this end, we have demonstrated the scalable synthesis of size-tunable nanostructures of variable dimensionality and optical asymmetry. This is accomplished using a newly developed strategy for synchronous polymerization and self-assembly of chiral block copolymers. Through incorporation of modular chemical functionalities, the resultant nanostructures were employed as chiral soft templates for the creation of hybrid organic-inorganic chiroptical nanocomposites. Concurrently, mechanistic insights were examined which underscore the broader significance of chirality as a geometric property in both natural and artificial systems. Our research, therefore, highlights the importance of topological defects in the emergence of asymmetric modes of self-assembly, where detailed structural studies reveal the complex interplay between local and global structure governing geometric frustration.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend.