Chad Mirkin & Northwestern researchers report the first bcc-to-fcc phase transition in colloidal crystals. DNA bonds tolerate 18% lattice mismatch, far beyond atomic heteroepitaxy. Advanced Materials. bit.ly/4oepZ6I

A new episode of Nanoscape is out now with Ryan Truby! Baymax may be fiction, but soft robotics is real. Hear how artificial muscles and bio-inspired design could shape the future of robotics. Listen on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts: bit.ly/4crjtDW

New Nanoscape episode: The RNA Multiverse with Julius Lucks. A quick trip into the nano world of RNA and how these tiny, dynamic molecules are being engineered into tools for human health, water quality, and the environment. Listen on Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/4tpBqKV

Science often sounds like science fiction before it becomes science fact. Our 2026 season premiere episode of Nanoscape features Julia Kalow on imagination, storytelling, and nanoscience. Listen here or on your favorite podcast platform: bit.ly/4pzvhsg

A new paper out today from Chad Mirkin, now published in JACS (@jacs.acspublications.org). Nanoreactor mediated synthesis enables systematic discovery of complex metal chalcogenide nanostructures. Read the full paper: bit.ly/4j3n7a0

Discovering Complex Metal Chalcogenide Nanostructures through Nanoreactor-Mediated Synthesis

Complex metal chalcogenide nanostructures, particularly multimetal, multichalcogen systems, represent a largely unexplored frontier of structural and compositional diversity. Indeed, systematic explor...

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Can bacteria eat our plastic problem? Dr. Ludmilla Aristilde studies how microbes and minerals recycle waste, nutrients, and plastics. Hear how her nanoscale discoveries are shaping sustainability on the newest episode of Nanoscape. Listen at iinano.org/podcast & your favorite podcast platform.

New from the Mirkin Lab in JACS: “Inverse design of DNA-programmable protein colloidal crystals.” DNA hybridization guides proteins into programmable crystalline lattices with tunable structure and size. Read: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

New Nanoscape episode out now! 🎙️ Nicholas Peppas, winner of the 2025 Kabiller Prize, joins to discuss how nanotech and biomaterials are transforming medicine, and what inspired his remarkable career. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: iinano.org/podcast

What makes Nicholas Peppas one of the most influential figures in nanomedicine? Find out in his 2025 Kabiller Prize profile: iinano.org/nicholas-peppas-scd #KabillerPrize #Nanoscience #IIN

Delighted to share exciting news about both past and present Weinberg Family Postdoctoral Fellows. As the IIN celebrates its 25th anniversary, milestones like these highlight our enduring commitment to training the next generation of nano leaders. bit.ly/4gMGbbB

2025 Kabiller Young Investigator Award winner Nathan Gianneschi joined the Nanoscape podcast to explore revolutionary advances in nanomedicine. Listen to the episode youtu.be/nje31nVdh2U Hear him speak in person at the 2025 IIN Symposium this October! bit.ly/3V5UZbl

Revolutionary Healthcare Solutions through Nanomedicine with Nathan Gianneschi

YouTube video by International Institute for Nanotechnology

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Congratulations to Guanyu Lu, inaugural Fraser Stoddart Fellow in the Dayne Swearer Group, on his first lead-author paper in ACS Nano. A milestone for both Guanyu and the fellowship. Read the full paper: bit.ly/4gfgtvS @dayneswearer.bsky.social @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Registration is now open for the 2025 IIN Rosemary Schnell Symposium. Join us on Oct. 15 in Evanston for a full day of world-class talks in nanoscience, featuring the 2025 Kabiller Award winners and global leaders in the field. RSVP now at bit.ly/3V5UZbl

CRISPR’s efficiency triples with a new spherical nucleic acid delivery system from Chad Mirkin’s lab. Safer, more effective, and published in PNAS. Read all about it here: bit.ly/42jaG2D

It’s here! 33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is now live in ACS Nano. Explore the questions shaping the next chapter of the field. #Nano33 Read it here: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Significant advances in science and engineering often emerge at the intersections of disciplines. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are inherently interdisciplinary, uniting researchers from chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, materials science, and engineering. This convergence has fostered novel ways of thinking and enabled the development of materials, tools, and technologies that have transformed both basic and applied research, as well as how we address critical societal challenges. In this Nano Focus, we pose and explore 33 questions whose answers could profoundly impact fields such as energy, electronics, the environment, optics, and medicine. These questions highlight the need for deeper foundational understanding, improved tools and techniques, and innovative applications─each with significant societal relevance. Together, they represent a global call-to-action for the scientific community.

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Tomorrow, the biggest questions in nano go public. Get ready for 33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in ACS Nano (@pubs.acs.org). #Nano33

What if the most powerful technology in your life was invisible? Ted Sargent joins Nanoscape to break down how nanoscience became the backbone of innovation. Listen at iinano.org/podcast or your favorite podcast platform. @trienensinst.bsky.social @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Chad Mirkin and team show how to build colloidal crystals with intentional defects and cavities using DNA-guided nanoparticle assembly. This strategy could enable new optical, sensing, and catalytic materials. Read it today in Advanced Materials: bit.ly/3Uo2auU @nuchemistry.bsky.social

We are proud to celebrate IIN faculty member Mercouri Kanatzidis, who has been awarded the 2025 Albert Einstein World Award of Science by the World Cultural Council. A well-deserved recognition for a truly transformative researcher.

Northwestern Chemistry@nuchemistry.bsky.social · last yr.

Congrats Mercouri Kanatzidis on winning the 2025 Albert Einstein World Award of Science from the World Cultural Council! 🎉 He is recognized for breakthroughs in solar PVs, halide perovskites & sustainable energy materials. #FacultyExcellence #MaterialsScience #NUChemistry

“We just scratched the surface.” After a year as chair of Northwestern Chemistry, Omar Farha returns to Nanoscape to discuss MOFs, sustainability, and the future of nanotechnology. 🎧 New episode is LIVE. Listen at iinano.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Announcing the 2025 Kabiller Prize and Award recipients. Three pioneering scientists advancing nanoscience and improving human health. Meet this year’s honorees: bit.ly/Kabiller2025 Hear them speak at the IIN Symposium in October: bit.ly/44jea6F

Our collaboration with the Poeppelmeier, Goldsmith, & Hersam groups shows the material LCSO to exhibit chiroptics, in spite of its centrosymmetry. Out today in @science.org. Featuring former Team member Andrew! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @iinanonu.bsky.social @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Differential absorption of circularly polarized light by a centrosymmetric crystal

Crystalline solids are governed by universal structure-property relationships derived from their crystal symmetry, leading to paradigmatic rules on what properties they can and cannot exhibit. A long-...

science.org

What does it take to solve gigaton-scale challenges? Professor Vinayak Dravid explains how nanoscience + nature work together in the latest episode of Nanoscape. Listen: iinano.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. #Nanoscience #Sustainability @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Can’t forget the outtakes from the evening’s celebration! 🎉📸 @nlkproteomics.bsky.social @omarfarha.bsky.social @iinanonu.bsky.social

Structure is the secret. In today’s ACS Nano perspective, Chad Mirkin and a team of scientific leaders explain how carefully engineered nanomedicines could make treatments safer, smarter, and more effective. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

🎧 New Episode! How do you extend the life of organs outside the body? Jarad Mason, Harvard chemist and former Mirkin Group postdoc, joins Nanoscape to share how nanotech solutions, like oxygen-loaded porous water, change the game. Listen now: iinano.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

🎧 New Episode! Roel Tempelaar joins Nanoscape to discuss his quantum research that challenges textbook assumptions — and how jazz piano shaped his approach to science. 🎙️ Listen now: iinano.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. @nuchemistry.bsky.social

Breakthrough alert! Published today in Advanced Materials, IIN researchers led by Chad Mirkin & Vinayak Dravid introduce innovative "phase-separating" nanoreactors, unlocking nanoparticle megalibraries across almost the entire periodic table. (@nuchemistry.bsky.social) 🔗 bit.ly/4it47jQ

How can “poor” metals become rich in functionality? Join Michael Ross as he explores how post-transition metals unlock powerful optical and catalytic properties at the nanoscale. Thursday, March 20, at 11am in Pancoe Pavilion.

Congratulations to the 2024 Ryan Fellows Award Winners. @nuchemistry.bsky.social @omarfarha.bsky.social @dayneswearer.bsky.social