- Graduate Field Affiliations
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Materials Science and Engineering
Biography
Nicholas Abbott received a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Engineering) from University of Adelaide, Australia in 1985, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department of Harvard University from 1991-1993. His initial academic appointment was at University of California-Davis. He moved to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 as Professor and served as Chairman of the department from 2009 to 2012. From 2012 to 2018, he served as Director of the Wisconsin Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and held the title of Sobota Professor and Hilldale Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. In 2018, he joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University as the Tisch University Professor. He is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science.
Research Interests
Nicholas Abbott’s research interests revolve around colloidal and interfacial phenomena. They span fundamental issues related to the origins of colloidal interactions through to the application of chemically tailored interfaces in chemical and biological sensors, biomedical devices and separations processes. His research group has designed and synthesized a range of surfactants that incorporate molecular triggers (redox-active and light-sensitive groups) that permit reversible control of surfactant-based properties of aqueous systems. They are exploring their use in separations processes, solar energy harvesting devices, and for the delivery of biomolecules to cells. His research group is also particularly interested in colloidal forces in liquid crystalline phases, and they have designed liquid crystalline interfaces that permit chemical and biomolecular events to be amplified into easily measured signals in sensors. A third area of interest is related to hydrophobic interactions mediated by complex patterns of chemical functionality on the nanoscale. This latter topic is leading to new design rules for molecular self-assembly, molecular recognition and adhesion in aqueous environments. These technical interests are unified by the challenge of understanding molecules and their assemblies at interfaces.
- Complex Fluids and Polymers
- Nanoscale Electronics, Photonics and Materials Processing
- Advanced Materials
- Advanced Materials Processing
- Bioengineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Biomolecular Engineering
- Colloids and Interfacial Science
- Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine
- Materials Synthesis and Processing
- Mechanics of Biological Materials
- Microfluidics
- Microfluidics and Microsystems
- Nanobio Applications
- Polymers and Soft Matter
- Nanotechnology
- Sensors and Actuators
- Surface Science
- Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials
- Sustainable Energy Systems
Teaching Interests
Nicholas Abbott has taught undergraduate classes in thermodynamics, transport phenomena and introductory colloid and interface science. He has also taught graduate classes in statistical thermodynamics and colloid and interface science.
Select Publications
-
Noh, J.; Cao, W.; Sun, H.; Yang, Y., Gianneschi, N.C., Abbott, N.L., “Self-Assembly of Macromolecules within Single Topological Defects of Nematic Solvents”, Chem. Mater. 2020, 32(15), 6753-6764.
-
Nayani, K.; Yang, Y; Yu, H; Jani, P; Mavrikakis, M; Abbott, N. L., “Areas of Opportunity Related to Design of Chemical and Biological Sensors Based on Liquid Crystals”, Liq. Cryst. Today 2020, 29 (2), 24-35.
-
Nayani, K.; Evans, A. A.; Spagnolie, S. E.; Abbott, N. L., “Dynamic and Reversible Shape Response of Red Blood Cells in Synthetic Liquid Crystals”, PNAS 2020, 117 (42), 26083-26090.
-
Tsuei, M.; Shivrayan, M.; Kim, Y. -K.; Thayumanavan, S.; Abbott, N. L.; “Optical “Blinking” Triggered by Collisions of Single Supramolecular Assemblies of Amphiphilic Molecules with Interfaces of Liquid Crystals”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142(13), 6139-6148.
-
Yeon, H.; Wang, C.; Gellman, S. H.; Abbott, N. L., “Influence of Immobilized Cations on the Thermodynamic Signature of Hydrophobic Interactions at Chemically Heterogeneous Surfaces”, Mol. Syst. Des. Eng. 2020, 5, 835-846.
Select Awards and Honors
- Lectureship Award of Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Chemical Society of Japan 2018
- Patten Distinguished Lecture, University of Colorado-Boulder 2018
- Reilly Lectures, University of Notre Dame 2018
- 6th Somer Lectures, Middle East Technical University 2017
- 42nd Annual Harry G. Fair Memorial Lecture, University of Oklahoma 2016
- The Willliam H. Schwartz Lecture, The Johns Hopkins University 2016
- Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society 2016
- American Chemical Society Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry 2016
- Elected to American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers 2016
- 42nd Annual Harry G. Fair Memorial Lecture, University of Oklahoma 2016
- Founders Lecturer, University of California, Los Angeles 2015
- Elected Member of National Academy of Engineering 2014
- Pirkey Centennial Lectureship, University of Texas, Austin 2013
- Amundson Lectureship, University of Minnesota 2013
Education
- B.E., Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide 1985
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1991
- Postdoctoral research with George M. Whitesides, Department of Chemistry, Harvard University 1993
