Intelligentsia of Nano-Architected Hierarchical Materials (Seminar)

Jones Seminar on Science, Technology, and Society.
"Intelligentsia of Nano-Architected Hierarchical Materials."
Julia Greer, Ruben and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics, Medical Engineering, Caltech.
May 5, 2024.
Creation of reconfigurable and multi-functional materials can be achieved by incorporating architecture into material design. In our research, we design and fabricate three-dimensional (3D) nano-architected materials that can exhibit superior and often tunable thermal, photonic, electrochemical, biochemical, and mechanical properties at extremely low mass densities (lighter than aerogels), which renders them useful and enabling in technological applications. Dominant properties of such meta-materials are driven by their multi-scale hierarchy: from characteristic material microstructure (atoms) to individual constituents (nanometers) to structural components (microns) to overall architectures (millimeters and above).
Greer’s research focuses on creating and characterizing nano- and micro-architected materials with multi-scale microstructural hierarchy using 3D lithography, nanofabrication, and additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, and investigate their mechanical, electrochemical, chemo-mechanical, and photonic properties as a function of architecture, constituent materials, and microstructural detail. We strive to uncover the synergy between the internal atomic- and molecular-level microstructure and the multi-scale external dimensionality, where competing material- (nano) and structure- (architecture) induced size effects drive overall response and govern these properties. Specific topics include applications of 3D nano- and micro-architected materials in devices, energy absorption, ultralightweight energy storage systems, chemically-assisted filtering, damage-tolerant fabrics, additive manufacturing, and multi-functional materials.
Greer obtained her S.B. in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Advanced Music Performance from MIT in 1997 and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Stanford, worked at Intel (2000-03) and was a post-doc at PARC (2005-07). Julia joined Caltech in 2007 and currently is a Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics, and Medical Engineering at Caltech, as well as the Fletcher Foundation Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute, and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Applied Physics.
*Disclaimer: Due to technical difficulties the recording ends abruptly, shortly before the end of the seminar.*