Seminar Speaker: Albert T. Liu, University of Michigan

Colloidal Electronic Matter

Abstract

Arming nano-electronics with mobility extends artificial systems into traditionally inaccessible environments. Carbon nanotubes (1D), graphene (2D) and other low-dimensional materials with well-defined lattice structures can be incorporated into polymer microparticles, granting them unique electronic functions. The resulting colloidal electronic ‘cells’, comprised of microscopic circuits connecting artificial ‘organelles’ (e.g., generators, sensors, logic gates, etc.), combine the modularity of modern electronics with the characteristic mobility found in dispersive colloidal systems. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts to fabricate colloidal electronic systems that perform autonomous functions integrating energy harvesting, chemical detection and digital memory recording – all within a form factor no larger than biological cells.

Biography

Albert Liu is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received his B.S. from CalTech in 2014 and Ph.D. from MIT in 2020, working with Michael Strano. Before joining the University of Michigan, Albert completed his post-doctoral training in the School of Medicine at Stanford University with Steven Chu in 2022. His research group (the Laboratory of Emergent and Galvanically Orchestrated Systems, or LEGOS) at the University of Michigan seeks to combine advanced fabrication techniques and nano-structured materials to build a paradigm of algorithmic materials with embodied intelligence. Albert’s research is supported by a Michigan Engineering START Grant, the Michigan Bold Challenge BOOST Program, the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund, and his research team is also part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center (STC): Center for Complex Particle Systems (COMPASS).