Programming Colloidal Self-Assembly for Advanced Materials

A PhD place is available on a project themed on designing and developing advanced materials, using high-performance computing, underpinned by theories of statistical mechanics and wave propagation in periodic structures.

Supervisor:

Dr Dwaipayan Chakrabarti, School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham

Project description:

Colloidal crystals, especially porous or open colloidal crystals, provide an exciting platform for designing soft advanced materials with attractive photonic, phononic and/or mechanical properties. An added advantage is that these designer advanced materials can be realised via self-assembly of colloidal particles in potentially scalable fabrication methods. The challenges involve exploring a rich parameter space for an optimal design of structure for the desired material properties and then programming self-assembly of colloidal particles into the optimally designed target crystal structure. This PhD project is focused on addressing these challenges, using computation and theory in connection with recent advances in colloid synthesis.  

Dr Chakrabarti leads a state-of-the art research programme at the interface of soft matter and advanced materials. The Chakrabarti group has active collaborations with several groups from within and beyond the UK and hosts students from the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Topological Design at the University of Birmingham. Dr Chakrabarti is also a Co-Principal Investigator at the International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (WPI-SKCM²) at Hiroshima University.

Recent representative publications by the Chakrabarti group in programming colloidal self-assembly for open crystals and empty liquids are as follows:

1.    A. Neophytou, F. W. Starr, D. Chakrabarti and F. Sciortino, Hierarchy of Topological Transitions in a Network Liquid, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2406890121 (2024).

2.    W. Flavell, A. Neophytou, A. Demetriadou, T. Albrecht and D. Chakrabarti, Programmed Self-Assembly of Single Colloidal Gyroids for Chiral Photonic Crystals. Adv. Mater. 35, 2211197 (2023).

3.    A. Neophytou, D. Chakrabarti and F. Sciortino, Topological Nature of the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Tetrahedral Liquids, Nat. Phys. 18, 1248 (2022).

4.    A. Neophytou, D. Chakrabarti and F. Sciortino, Facile Self-Assembly of Colloidal Diamond from Tetrahedral Patchy Particles via Ring Selection, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2109776118 (2021).

5.    A. Neophytou, V. N. Manoharan and D. Chakrabarti, Self-Assembly of Patchy Colloidal Rods into Photonic Crystals Robust to Stacking Faults, ACS Nano 15, 2668 (2021).

6.    A. B. Rao, J. Shaw, A. Neophytou, D. Morphew, F. Sciortino, R. L. Johnston and D. Chakrabarti, Leveraging Hierarchical Self-Assembly Pathways for Realizing Colloidal Photonic Crystals, ACS Nano 14, 5348 (2020).

7.    D. Morphew, J. Shaw, C. Avins and D. Chakrabarti, Programming Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Patchy Particles into Colloidal Crystals via Colloidal Molecules, ACS Nano 12, 2355 (2018).

Person specification:

Applicants should have or expect to achieve at least a 2.1 honours or equivalent at Bachelors or Masters level in Chemistry / Physics / Materials Science / Chemical Engineering or in a related discipline, and relevant experience in computational and theoretical studies. Programming experience is desirable, but not essential.

The University of Birmingham is strongly committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. The School of Chemistry holds an Athena SWAN Bronze Award in recognition of its work in promoting women’s careers in STEM subjects in higher education, and is keen to welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

How to apply:

For further details on the project and informal enquiry please visit http://www.stchem.bham.ac.uk/~dchakrabarti/ and contact Dr Dwaipayan Chakrabarti at [Email Address Removed].

Apply online at https://pga.bham.ac.uk/lpages/EPS006.htm with a cover letter summarising the suitability of your candidature for the project, a curriculum vitae, and the contact details of two nominated referees.

Application deadline:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Funding Notes

This PhD place maybe competition-funded. A fully funded studentship is typically for full-time study and covers tuition fees and a maintenance grant in line with the UK Research Innovation home rate.

Eligible students, who are willing to apply for external funding, are encouraged to contact Dr Chakrabarti as early as possible to discuss their applications.