In many arrangements of matter, it is the phase interfaces, more than the bulk composition, that are critical to the material structure and behavior. The surfaces of solids offer a platform for functional coating; coatings may be deposited from vapor, applied as a volatile liquid, or assembled from solution onto the solid, in a pattern determined by the molecular properties. This self-assembly tendency may be exploited to arrange desired patterns that have operational properties. Interfacial effects are also responsible for stable dispersions of immiscible phases, leading to fluids with complex microstructure. Other structured fluids arise from large molecules whose orientation in the solvent is constrained by molecular size and properties. In solids, tight control of pore size, grain size, chemical composition, and crystal structure offer a striking range of catalytic, mechanical, and electromagnetic properties. Structure is the basis for function, and by manipulating tiny length scales, the resulting nanostructure makes available new capabilities, and thus new technologies and products.

In the Department, you will find expertise in colloids, emulsions, surfactants, structured fluids, thin films, liquid crystals, sol-gel processing, surface patterning, nanostructured materials, surface chemistry, and many other areas of nanotechnology and surface science. View the pages of individual faculty members to learn about recent and ongoing research.

Daniel Blankschtein	Professor	617.253.4594 dblank@mit.edu	colloid and interface science, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, environmental and biomedical aspects of structured fluids, bioseparations, transdermal drug delivery
Karen K. Gleason	Professor	617.253.5066 kkgleasn@mit.edu	chemical vapor deposition, nuclear magnetic resonance
Paula T. Hammond	Professor	617.258.7577 hammond@mit.edu	macromolecular design and synthesis, directed assembly using surface templates, block copolymers, asymmetric morphologies, liquid crystalline polymeric materials, nanoscale assembly and fabrication
T. Alan Hatton	Professor	617.253.4588 tahatton@mit.edu	transport phenomena, separation processes, microemulsions, colloids
Klavs F. Jensen	Professor, Department Head	617.253.4589 kfjensen@mit.edu	processing of materials, chemical vapor deposition, microfabrication, surface and gas-phase reaction kinetics, reaction engineering, mathematical modeling
J. Christopher Love	Assistant Professor	617.324-2300 clove@mit.edu	micro/nanofabrication and surface chemistries, cellular immunology and infectious diseases, immunotherapy/vaccines, clinical diagnostics
Herbert H. Sawin	Professor	617.253.4570 hhsawin@mit.edu	directional plasma etching, dry wafer cleaning, kinetics, surface science, process modeling
Bernhardt L. Trout	Professor	617.258.5021 trout@mit.edu	kinetics of aqueous and biological systems, protein stabilization, nucleation of pharmaceutical and clathrate hydrates,theoretical heterogeneous catalysis, molecular-level design of products and processes, emissions control and sustainable development