Research

Our group's research includes projects in the following areas:

1. Nano-materials: we study the structure and electronic and optical properties of low-dimensional, nano-scale systems; examples of such systems include carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoflakes and nanowires.  Recent advances in this field include the production of single layers of metal-dichalcogenides (like MoS₂, WSe₂, etc.) which have semiconducting character, and their combination with graphene (a semi-metal) or hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN, an insulator) layers.
2. Heterogeneous catalysis: we study the atomic-scale structure of solid surfaces and its effect on promoting various reactions that are useful for fuel conversion.
3. Mechanochemistry: we have worked on the effects that chemical impurities have on the large-scale mechanical behavior of solids; these may include significant changes like a transition from brittle to ductile response to external load.
4. Biomolecules: we investigate the properties of biomolecules like DNA and proteins, and their interaction with solid surfaces and nanostructures; we are also interested in other molecules with important biological functions, such as melanin (a multi-functional substance with light-protecting and neurological functions) and flavonoids (anti-oxidants).
5. Multiscale Hemodynamics: In a multi-year collaboration, we worked closely with Italian scientists Simone Melchionna, Sauro Succi, Massimo Bernaschi and Mauro Bisson (of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome) and our Harvard Medical School colleagues Charles L. Feldman, Peter H. Stone and Frank J. Rybicki (Brigham and Women's Hospital), to simulate blood flow in the heart arteries. The culmination of this project was a simulation of blood flow in real patient arteries including red blood cell motion; this paper was a finalist for the Gordon Bell Prize at SuperComputing-10.

Below you can find some pictures from representative projects.