CCI Phase I: NSF Center for Single-Entity Nanochemistry and Nanocrystal Design

The NSF Center for Single-Entity Nanochemistry and Nanocrystal Design (C-SENND) is supported by the Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI) Program in the Division of Chemistry. This Phase I Center is led by Sara Skrabalak of Indiana University. Other team members include Xingchen Ye, also of Indiana University, as well as Lane Baker and Xin Yan of Texas A&M University, Graeme Henkelman of the University of Texas at Austin, and Katherine Willets of Temple University.

Crystals with nanoscale dimensions, i.e., nanocrystals, are finding use in nearly all sectors of our economy. Their utility arises from the ability to access new properties that depend on their crystal size and shape. This strong dependence on size and shape provides ample opportunity to discover new nanocrystals with useful properties.

Yet, as nanocrystal samples are inherently heterogeneous, this discovery process is also exceptionally challenging and requires that nanocrystals within a sample be analyzed individually. Conceptually, this challenge is similar to drug discovery and design, where there is a large experimental space from which a promising target has to be identified.

This process has been transformed over the past few decades by high-throughput screening and array-based assays, which shorten the time from target identification to lead generation. Inspired by the conceptual similarities, C-SENND will apply similar strategies to single nanocrystal analyses to create the scientific toolkit and chemical knowledge to transform the discovery of lead nanocrystals with exceptional properties for applications in chemical sensing and catalysis.

Research will occur with an inclusive environment, with professional development activities being implemented that build student self-efficacy. Broader impacts of C-SENND emphasize collaboration between scientists and artists to disseminate scientific content through public art in informal environments.

C-SENND will undertake two aims during Phase 1. First, the team will merge array-based technologies with single nanocrystal measurements for high-throughput property screening and lead identification from metal nanocrystal libraries. This effort will leverage an electrochemical screening system for nanocrystal library generation and optical methods for high-throughput read-out of nanocrystal properties for chemical sensing and catalysis, providing large sets of single nanocrystal data for model testing and guided design of new nanocrystals.

Second, the team will develop single nanocrystal methodologies to establish the relationship between nanocrystal structure and electrochemical response, achieving the breakthrough of product identification and quantification at the level of individual nanocrystal catalysts. This effort will be achieved by coupling electrochemical imaging with mass spectrometry (ECI-MS) of single nanocrystal catalysts.

Looking toward Phase II, we envision convergence of aims, where the array-based platform for nanocrystal library generation is paired with the ECI-MS, providing a unique platform for rapid screening of single nanocrystal electrocatalysts for nanocrystal discovery and design. Broadly, C-SENND aims to transform how the chemical community thinks about nanocrystal heterogeneity, viewing such heterogeneity as an asset to discovery rather than a detriment to be suppressed.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.