Mission

Prof. Stellacci heads the Supramolecular NanoMaterials and Interfaces Laboratory (SuNMiL). 
 SuNMIL mission is to uncover the complex interactions that take place between supramolecular assemblies and the molecular world that surrounds them. To achieve this goal novel materials are synthesizes and characterized. A special attention is devoted to the creation, characterization, and understanding of supramolecular interfaces that present nanoscale domains.
 
 Representative papers are:
 
 1. Jackson, A. M.; Myerson, J. W.; Stellacci, F. “Spontaneous assembly of sub-nanometre ordered domains in the ligand shell of monolayer protected nanoparticles” Nature Materials, 3, 330-336, 2004
 2. Halik, M.; Klauk, H.; Zschieschang, U.; Schmid, G.; Dehm, C.; Schütz, M.; Maisch, S.; Effenberger, F.; Brunnbauer, M.; Stellacci, F. “Low-voltage organic transistors with an amorphous molecular gate dielectric” Nature, 431, 963-966, 2004
 3. AYu, A. A.; Savas, T. A.; Taylor G. S.; Guiseppe-Elie A.; Smith H. I.; Stellacci F. “Supramolecular Nano-stamping: using DNA as movable type”, Nano Letters, 5, 1061-1066, 2005
 4. DeVries, G. A.; Brunnbauer, M.; Hu, Y.; Jackson, A. M.; Long, B.; Neltner, B.; Uzun, O.; Wunsch, B. H.; Stellacci, F. “Divalent Metal Nanoparticles: From One-Dimensional Chains to Self-Standing Films”, Science, 315, 358-361, 2007
 5. Singh, C; Ghorai, P. K.; Horsch, M. A.; Jackson, A. M.; Larson, R. G.; Stellacci, F.; Glotzer, S.C. “Entropy-Mediated Patterning of Surfactant-Coated Nanoparticles and Surfaces” Physical Review Letters, 99, 226106 (1-4), 2007
 6. Verma, A.; Uzun, O.; Hu, Y.; Han, H.-S.; Watson N.; Chen S.; Irvine, D. J.; Stellacci, F. “Surface Structure-Regulated Cell Membrane Penetration by Monolayer Protected Nanoparticles”, Nature Materials, 7, 588-595, 2008
 7. Yuan, J.; Liu, X.; Akbulut, O.; Hu, J.; Suib, S. L.; Kong J.; Stellacci, F. “Selective Superwetting Nanowire Membranes”, Nature Nanotechnology, 3, 332-336, 2008
 8. Centrone, A.; Penzo, E.; Sharma, M.; Myerson, J. W.; Jackson A. M.; Marzari, N.; Stellacci, F. “The role of nanostructure in the wetting behavior of mixed-monolayer-protected metal nanoparticles”, Proceeding of the National Academy of Science, 105, 9886-9891, 2008
 9. Kuna, J.J., Voitchovsky, K., Singh, C.; Jiang, H.; Mwenifumbo, S.; Ghorai, P.K.; Stevens, M.M., Glotzer, S.C.; Stellacci, F. “The Effect of Nanometre-Scale Structure on Interfacial Energy”, Nature Materials, 10, 837-842, 2009
 10. Voïtchovsky, K.; Kuna, J.J.; Antoranz Contera, S.; Tosatti, E.; Stellacci F. “Direct mapping of the solid-liquid adhesion energy with sub-nanometer resolution”, Nature Nanotech., 5, 401-405, 2010

Biography

Francesco Stellacci graduated in Materials Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano in 1998 with a thesis on photochromic polymers with Prof. Giuseppe Zerbi and Mariacarla Gallazzi. In 1999 he moved to the Chemistry Department of the University of Arizona for as a post-doc in the group of Joe Perry in close collaboration with the group of Seth Marder. In 2002 he moved to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor. He was then promoted to associate without (2006) and with tenure (2009). In 2010 he moved to the Institute of Materials at EPFL as a full Professor. He holds the Alcan EP Chair. Francesco was one of the recipients of the Technology Review TR35 "35 Innovator under 35" award in 2005, and the Popular Science Magazine "Brilliant 10" award in 2007. He has been a Packard Fellow starting 2005.