Steve Granick / Faculty / Chemistry at Illinois

Professor Granick received his B.A. cum laude from Princeton University in 1978 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1982. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1985 following postdoctoral research at the Collège de France with P.-G. de Gennes and at the University of Minnesota with Matthew Tirrell. His research interests are in the areas of single-molecule methods, polymers, complex fluids, and biomaterials.

Research

We use methods of physical, analytical, and materials chemistry to study molecules at surfaces. For example, thin films and interfaces of complex fluids (polymers, biopolymers, and other structured fluids) are at the heart of an enormous range of scientific and technological problems: drug delivery, colloidal stability and flocculation, coatings, lubrication, adhesion, chromatographic separation, polymer reinforcement with particulate fillers, and the blood compatibility of artificial internal organs. Students in the research group thus gain broad training in a variety of subjects.

Some experiments aim to measure single-molecule behavior, other experiments to measure the ensemble average. With unique instruments in the laboratory we study the motions and relaxations of fluid molecules in intimate contact with a solid surface. We measure equilibrium surface forces and also their dynamical responses over a wide range of excitation frequency and shear rate. A key point of this work is that interfacial forces depend strongly on time and rate. We would like to understand these rates, and learn how to control them. This research gets down to the fundamentals of surface-surface interactions, adhesion, friction, and surface recognition, at the direct level of molecular forces.

We also make much use of femtosecond laser fluorescence spectroscopy, and also of fluorescence imaging methods, to probe the surface diffusion rates, rotational relaxation times, surface conformations, and binding-unbinding rates of polymers, polyelectrolytes, DNA, and proteins. The surfaces are metallic, inorganic, and biological (lipid bilayers). These questions of the surface mobility of polymers and biopolymers, and how and why the relaxation between states is different from in the bulk, form the basis of many significant scientific problems to whose solution we would like to contribute - in areas from tribology to biology.

Students in this group include chemists, physicists, and engineers. This diversity of background and perspective helps to maintain a particularly stimulating environment.

Postdoctoral positions are sometimes available for persons with experience in laser spectroscopy. Inquiries are always welcome.

Publications

Minsu Kim, Stephen M. Anthony, and Steve Granick, "Isomeric Colloidal Clusters with Shape-Dependent Mobility," Soft Matter 5, 81 (2009)

Malgorzata Graca; Jeroen Bongaerts; Jason Stokes, and Steve Granick, "Nanotribology, Standard Friction, and Bulk Rheology Properties Compared for a Brij Microemulsion," J. Colloid Interface Sci., in press.

Steve Granick and Sung Chul Bae, "A Curious Antipathy for Water," Science 322, 1477 (2008).

Bo Wang, Liangfang Zhang, Sung Chul Bae, and Steve Granick, "Nanoparticle-Induced Surface Reconstruction of Phospholipid Membranes," Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 105, 18171 (2008). Highlighted: Nature Nanotechnology.

Liang Hong, Angelo Cacciuto, Erik, Luijten, and Steve Granick, "Clusters of Amphiphilic Colloid Spheres," Langmuir 24, 621 (2008).

Yan Yu, Stephen M. Anthony, Liangfang Zhang, Sun Chul Bae, and Steve Granick, "Cationic Nanoparticles Stabilize Zwitterionic Liposomes Better than Anionic Ones", J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 8233 (2007).

S. Granick and S. C. Bae, "Molecular Motion at Soft and Hard Interfaces: from Phospholipid Bilayers to Polymers and Lubricants", Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 58, 353 (2007).

A. Poynor, L. Hong, I. K. Robinson, S. Granick, Z. Zhang, P. A. Fenter, "How Water Meets a Hydrophobic Surface", Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 266101 (2006) [PDF]. Highlighted: Nature 445, 129 (2007). Highlighted: Nature 445, 831 (2007).

Awards

Polymer Physics Prize, American Physical Society, 2009
Chair, Gordon Conference on Liquids, 2009
Dow Lecture, MIT, 2008
Chair, Division of Polymer Physics, American Physical Society, 2006
Dorn Lecture, Northwestern University, 2006
Center for Advanced Study, Univ. Illinois, 2006
Chair, DOE Council on Materials Panel on Polymers at Interfaces, 2002
Paris-Sciences Medal, City of Paris, 2002

Highlights

Four group members have this year found new faculty positions. For more information, see http://groups.mrl.uiuc.edu/granick/Newsphoto.html
We create and explain the first clusters of amphiphilic colloids. See the publication at http://groups.mrl.uiuc.edu/granick/Publication.html
Our research is surveyed in the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry. See the publication at http://groups.mrl.uiuc.edu/granick/Publication.html
Our paper on how water meets a hydrophobic surface is highlighted twice by Nature. See the publication at http://groups.mrl.uiuc.edu/granick/Publication.html
Our work on phospholipid liposomes is highlighted by Science and Nature Materials. Other work on supported phospholipid bilayers is highlighted by Science. See the publication at http://groups.mrl.uiuc.edu/granick/Publication.html