B.Sc. Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Iran 1999 M. Sc. Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Iran 2001 Ph.D. Physics, University of Waterloo, 2007 Post-Doctoral associate, Chemistry, University of Toronto, 2007-08. NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow, Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009-11.

Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry/Materials Chemistry/Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Our group is interested in studying the effect of nano-confinement on structure, dynamics, and other properties of materials. Materials behave differently on surfaces, interfaces or small length scales compared to their bulk properties. Understanding such differences are crucial in many technological applications where materials are constrained in nanometer size spaces, such as organic electronics, polymer applications and drug delivery. One can take advantage of such difference to produce novel materials, such as exceptionally stable glasses or harvest light for various applications. In biological systems, most of the dynamics happens in nanometer size proximity of surfaces and interfaces, and understanding the properties in confinement is a key in predicting function. We focus our efforts on understanding the origins of such modified properties on a fundamental level as well as possible application of such phenomena in producing novel materials or experimental tools.

Z. Fakhraai, S. Valadkhan, J. A. Forrest, "Qualitative Discrepancy between Different Measures of Dynamics in Thin Polymer Films", Eur. Phys. J. E. 18, 143-148 (2005).

Z. Fakhraai, J. A. Forrest, "Probing Slow Dynamics in Supported Thin Polymer Films", Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 025701 (2005).

D. Qi, Z. Fakhraai, and J.A. Forrest, “Substrate and Chain Size Dependence of Near Surface Dynamics of Glassy Polymers”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 096101 (2008).

K. Mueller, X. Yang, M. Paulite, Z. Fakhraai, N. Gunari and G. C. Walker, „Chemical Imaging of the Surface of Self-Assembled Polystyrene-b-Poly (methyl methacrylate) Diblock Copolymer Films Using Apertureless-Nearfield IR Microscopy”, Langmuir, 24, 6946 (2008).

Fakhraai, J. A. Forrest, "Measuring the Surface Dynamics of Glassy Polymers", Science, 319, 600 (2008).

M. J. Kofke, D. H. Waldeck, Z. Fakhraai, S. Ip, and G. C. Walker, “The Effect of Periodicity on the Extraordinary Optical Transmission of Annular Aperture Arrays”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 023104 (2009).

M. Paulite, Z. Fakhraai, N. Gunari, A. Tanur, and G. C. Walker, “Imaging Secondary Struc-ture of Individual Amyloid Fibrils of a beta(2)-Microglobulin Fragment Using Near-Field Infrared Spectroscopy ”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 7376- 7383(2011).

Z. Fakhraai, T. Still, G. Fytas and M. D. Ediger, “Structural Variations of an Organic Glassformer Vapor-Deposited onto a Temperature Gradient Stage”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2, 423–427 (2011).

C. R. Daley, Z. Fakhraai, M. D. Ediger, and J. A. Forrest, “Comparing Surface and Bulk Flow of a Molecular Glass Former ”,Soft Matter, 8, 2206-2212(2012).

B. L. Sanchez-Gaytan, P. Zwanglap, T. J. Lamkin, Z. Fakhraai, S. Link, and S. J. Park, “Syn-thesis and Optical Properties of Spiky Gold Nanoshells”, J. Phys. Chem. C, (Accepted).