IIN Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series – Rafal Klajn

Professor Rafal Klajn

Weizman Institute of Science, Israel
Department of Organic Chemistry
Location – Tech L211
Hosted by Matthew O’Brien

Abstract

Living organisms are the most prominent examples of systems self-assembled and performing useful functions under far-from-equilibrium conditions. Inspired by Nature, we design new materials whose properties and functions can be “turned on” and “off” on demand, using external stimuli as “inputs”. Among the different external stimuli, we focus on light and magnetic fields since they can be delivered instantaneously and into a precise location. In this talk, I will discuss molecular switches and inorganic nanoparticles as the key building blocks of new dynamically self-assembling materials. These materials hold promise for new applications as diverse as light-controlled catalysis, or manipulating non-magnetic objects with the help of magnets.

Biography

Dr. Rafal Klajn was born in Poland in 1982. He completed with Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern, working with Profs. Bartosz A. Grzybowski and Sir J. Fraser Stoddart. Since 2009, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), where the interests of his group revolve around nanoscale self-assembly and reactivity, and the development of new stimuli-responsive nanomaterials. He is a recipient of the 2010 IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists, the 2013 ACS Victor K. LaMer Award, and the 2013 ERC Starting Investigator Award.