AMBER Researchers featured in Matter’s ’35 challenges in materials science being tackled by PIs under 35(ish) in 2024′

8 November 2024

Congratulations to two AMBER Researchers featured in Matter’s ’35 challenges in materials science being tackled by PIs under 35(ish) in 2024′. Colm Delaney is an AMBER Funded Investigator and Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin. Larisa Florea is also an AMBER Funded Investigator and Associate Professor in Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin. It is fantastic to have two researchers highlighted among early career materials scientists. Matter, is a monthly journal encompassing the general field of materials science, from nano to macro, fundamentals to application.

Professor Colm Delaney’s group focuses on the synthesis and assembly of nanomaterials to create hierarchical photonic structures that show
dynamic and programmable structural color. By employing high-resolution additive manufacturing, they can design and program the response of the photonic structures across the molecular, nano-, and micro-scale.

The inspiration behind this work comes from the natural world, where a myriad of organisms
not only show structural color but can dynamically change this to camouflage, distract, signal, and regulate body temperature. They use their synthetic models for sensing, actuation, encryption, and energy harvesting.

Professor Larisa Florea’s group develops responsive materials that can switch between different states upon exposure to external stimuli.
Stimulation of these materials using light, temperature, electrochemical potential, or variation of the local chemical environment can result in changes in local charge, polarity, or molecular
conformation.

The incorporation of such responsive units at the molecular level, combined with 3D design and micro- fabrication, permits the realization of customized 3D architectures that can undergo anisotropic and directional/ programmable shape change upon stimulation. Such microstructures have a wide range of applications, from soft micro-robotics to microfluidics.

Matter, a sister journal to Cell, is a monthly journal encompassing the general field of materials science, from nano to macro, fundamentals to application.