International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) at Northwestern University

A new paper from Chad Mirkin, Vinayak Dravid, and Northwestern University, published today in ACS Nano, advances scanning probe-based nanofabrication by solving a key bottleneck: reliably synthesizing metallic nanoclusters smaller than 5 nm. The approach uses high-chi block copolymers to drive ordered microphase separation within patterned features, generating nanoreactors whose size is governed by polymer assembly rather than lithographic resolution.

The resulting nanoclusters include alloys of bulk-immiscible elements and previously unreported nonspherical morphologies.

https://bit.ly/4o7Dxkn

Researchers at Northwestern University led by Chad Mirkin have published a new study in Advanced Materials demonstrating programmable heteroepitaxial growth of colloidal crystals with different phases, using DNA as the engineering tool. For the first time, face-centered cubic (fcc) lattices were grown on body-centered cubic (bcc) colloidal crystal seeds, tolerating an 18% lattice mismatch that would exceed the limits of conventional atomic heteroepitaxy. The work also introduces the first model for the bcc-to-fcc transition in colloidal crystal systems, with structural analogies to atomic-scale phase transitions. https://bit.ly/4oepZ6I

The race is on to accelerate autonomous materials discovery.

In a new Science Advances study, Chad Mirkin and researchers at Northwestern University show how megalibraries can synthesize and screen vast numbers of materials at once, offering a high-speed route to the experimental data needed to train AI systems.

The platform helped identify a previously unknown, chemically complex piezoelectric material and then design a material to maintain its function up to a targeted operating temperature.

Read more:

Megalibraries in pole position for autonomous discovery over self-driving labs Megalibraries outperform emerging ‘self-driving labs’ in terms of speed and throughput to create and screen vast numbers of materials samples simultaneously.

Mark Ratner started asking a question that most people thought was almost philosophical at the time: could you replace the solid-state components of electronic devices with molecules, and what would happen if you did? That question opened up an entire field.

He always used to say, 'if you can't make things, you can't study things,' and that philosophy drove everything. People are still chasing the ideas that came out of his work, in quantum computing, in energy, in medicine. That's what a lasting impact looks like, and he will be greatly missed.

Read the full tribute:

Northwestern mourns Professor Emeritus Mark A. Ratner Mark A. Ratner, the Lawrence B. Dumas Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, passed away on May 10 at age 83. He will be remembered as a brilliant scientist, enthusiastic researcher, supportive colleague and dedicated ment...

Former Mirkin Group postdoc Adrian Figg has been named to the Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12 Class of 2026, an important indicator of a rising stars in chemistry.

This year’s class was chosen from nearly 540 nominations, the largest pool C&EN has ever received for the Talented 12. To be selected from such a competitive group speaks to the originality, creativity, and promise of Adrian’s work.

Now an assistant professor at Virginia Tech, Adrian is advancing innovative research in controlled polymerization and polymer-protein interactions, connecting polymer chemistry, biology, and materials design in ways that could open new directions for the field.

A well-deserved honor for an outstanding scientist whose work continues to push chemistry forward.

Read his C&EN profile:

2026 Talented 12: Adrian Figg Constructing polymers to bridge with proteins

The structure of a therapeutic at the nanoscale can have a major impact on how it behaves in the body.

In a new C&EN feature, Chad Mirkin discusses how researchers are using nanostructure design to rethink drug delivery, cancer therapeutics, and vaccine development.

Read the full feature, “Dimensions of drug delivery: Why architecture matters in nanomedicine”:https://bit.ly/4eFBfpQ

Big news from the Mirkin Lab at Northwestern University. A new paper just published in Nano Letters!

Scientists have long known that spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) are powerful tools for delivering nanomedicines into cells. Now, Chad Mirkin and the team show that by engineering well-defined DNA nanostructures with different topologies and clustering onto SNA surfaces, cellular uptake can be boosted by up to 5 times compared to conventional SNAs. A key insight is that Ca2+ significantly outperforms Mg2+ during assembly, directly changing how cells take up these particles.

Read the full paper here: https://bit.ly/4us1O6m

A strong moment for Northwestern, Mattiq, Illinois and the future of quantum.

During Northwestern Quantum Week, leaders came together as Illinois continues building its quantum ecosystem.

At the International Institute for Nanotechnology, materials discovery is already evolving through megalibraries and Mattiq. A new NQAC award highlights how those efforts are starting to come together.

Read more:

IIN’s Materials Discovery Work Meets Illinois’ Quantum Moment - International Institute for Nanotechnology A new NQAC award at Northwestern is linking Illinois’ expanding...