CSENND Launch Event is a success!

On Nov. 7-8, over 40 members of CSENND attend the Phase 2 in person launch event. On Friday night, a poster session was hosted for both members of CSENND and the IU community engaged in nanomaterials and single-entity research. Saturday marked an all-day workshop that included scientific presentations, breakout discussions on the testbed applications and aims, and brainstorming activities around the broader impact activities. The event concluded with a center dinner.

The Li Group visits Indiana University for training on Legion

Legion is a high-throughput electrochemistry tool created by the Baker Group at Texas A&M and constructed by electronic services at Indiana University. Now, the Li Group at Purdue University will be creating metal chalcogenides with this platform for CSENND’s catalyst testbed. They visited Indiana University to pick up their instrument. During their visit, members of the Skrabalak and Ye group provided a hands-on tutorial on its use.

CSENND Participates in Indiana University’s ScienceFest

On November 1, 2025, members of the CSENND based at Indiana University participated in the yearly ScienceFest, which invites the Bloomington community to campus to engage in scientific exploration. With support from Alexander Parobek, CSENND’s Director of Education and Broader Impact Activities, the team hosted the room entitled “The Beautiful and Hidden World of Crystal Structure.”

Participants peered into the small and fascinating world of crystals and their crystal structures with magnification tools, artistic resources, and colorful demonstrations that included the making of nanoparticles in solution that changed color as they grew. A question to be answered was “As you zoom in, what will you find?”

2025 PUNC-CSENND Virtual Poster Session

CSENND collaborated with the Primarily Undergraduate Nanomaterials Cooperative (PUNC) to host the first PUNC-CSENND Virtual Poster Session. Using Gather as a platform, over 20 undergraduate researchers hosted in both PUNC and CSENND laboratories presented their summer research is poster format on October 1 from 2-4 pm eastern. Well-over 50 people attended the poster session, with high engagement reported. This PUNC-CSENND collaboration is anticipated to be an annual event, with other means of engagement being organized during the academic year.

Phase 2 of CSENND is Official!

We are excited to announce $20 million in Phase 2 funding through the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Chemical Innovation program. The IU-led Center for Single-Entity Nanochemistry and Nanocrystal Design launched in 2022, brings together researchers from nine institutions exploring how individual nanocrystals behave. This exciting news was featured in an article and video from the IU College of Arts and Sciences as well as from the National Science Foundation.

Read the press releases from Temple University and Texas A&M University as well.

Kenis Group Members Visit Indiana University

Phase 2 faculty associate Paul Kenis and graduate student Brandon Chiang from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign met with Skrabalak and Ye group members at Indiana University in August. The meeting focused on sharing expertise and to plan initial experiments that aim to enhance the reproducibility of nanocrystal syntheses and create nanocrystal libraries of catalysts for urea synthesis.

PUNC-CSENND Summer Research Talks Conclude

During summer 2025, the Primarily Undergraduate Nanomaterials Cooperative, a network of researchers who work with undergraduates to research nanomaterials, hosted CSENND in a 3-part series of research presentations by undergraduates from PUNC laboratories. Also, Zac O’Dell (Willets Group – Temple University), Nilotpal Kapuria (Skrabalak and Ye Groups – Indiana University), and Lingjie Zhang (Baker Group – Texas A&M University) presented their CSENND research, with the broader goal of seeding collaborations as part of Phase 2. A virtual poster session for undergraduates involved in nanomaterials research is being planned for early October.

CSENND members visit Eanes Elementary

On March 28, CSENND members from UT-Austin brought Magnifying Minds to Eanes Elementary, where they look at all sorts of natural materials with FoldScopes to see the building blocks of our world and learn about magnification.

CSENND Welcomes 5th grade students from Dunbar Elementary to Temple University

CSENND researchers, members of the Willets group, and microscopy staff at Temple University welcome 5th grade students from Dunbar Elementary school to explore the microscopic world. They got hands on experience with hand-held magnifiers, various optical microscopes, and even a scanning electron microscope. They drew their observations and completed the CSENND mural puzzle as part…

CSENND Magnifies Minds at Texas A&M’s Chemistry Open House

CSENND researchers and members of the Baker and Yan groups welcome community students to the Chemistry Department’s Open House at Texas A&M. They used educational materials developed with our Magnifying Minds public art mural to help children explore what cannot be seen with their unaided eyes.

Bob Villwock, Associate Director of Intellectual Property at UT-Austin, guest speaks at CSENND all-hands meeting

Bob Villwock, the Associate Director of Intellectual Property at UT-Austin, attended the July 2024 all-hands meeting of CSENND. He gave a tutorial on what intellectual property is and the patent process, building understanding among CSENND participants as we seek to innovate within the field of nanoscience.

CSENND Students Engage with the Bloomington Community at the 4th & Rogers Block Party

On June 7, CSENND members from the Ye and Skrabalak groups provided educational and art activities to the community in attendance at the 4th and Rogers Block Party in Bloomington Indiana. This neighborhood is home to Erin Tobey’s Magnifying Minds mural commissioned by CSENND as part of their science communication efforts and activities were inspired…

Baker Group member Krista Kulesa Trains Skrabalak and Ye Groups on Legion

Recently, the Baker group at Texas A&M University reported Legion as a new instrument for high-throughput electrochemistry. Now, additional copies of Legion have been created by the Electrical Instrument Services at Indiana University for use as a center-level resource. Baker group and CSENND member Krista Kulesa visiting researchers in the Skrabalak and Ye groups at…

CSENND, Bloomington Arts Commission, CFC Properties, and Wonderlab host Mural Launch Event December 3

Artist Erin Tobey completed a mural adjacent to Bloomington’s Wonderlab that explores the concepts of size and scale. A celebration of the mural’s completion was held on December 3 that included educational activities introducing the young, and young at heart, to the microscopic and nanoscopic world. You can read more about the mural here. Video…

Creation of First Mural in “Public Art for Magnifying Minds” Series Begins

Bloomington Artist Erin Tobey has begun painting the first mural as part of CSENND’s Public Art for Magnifying Minds Series. The mural will be located in the alley just west of Wonderlab (308 W 4th St, Bloomington), with a launch event being planned for Sunday December 3. This project is made possible as a collaboration…

CSENND Members Engage in In-Person Strategic Planning Meeting

From Oct. 5 through Oct. 7, an in person, all-hands meeting was hosted at Indiana University. Students presented their collaborative research as teams in a poster session hosted by the Chemistry Department, along side other IU researchers engaged in materials and nanoscience research. Then, two days were dedicated to strategic planning, guided by Laura Seifert….

Zhenni Jia from Temple University’s Center for Chinese Language Instruction Runs Language Workshop for CSENND

As part of CSENND’s efforts to promote cultural competency and inclusion, Zhenni Jia from Temple University’s Center for Chinese Language Instruction spoke to CSENND participants about the cultural significance of Chinese names and the importance of pronouncing names correctly. The structure of names, spelling variations, and the Pinyin system for representing Chinese characters were reviewed.

Bloomington Artist Erin Tobey Selected as Muralist for Science and Scale for All Project

CSENND Director Sara Skrabalak meets with local artist Erin Tobey and Holly Warren of the Bloomington Arts Commission to discuss the science-themed mural being designed for near Bloomington’s Wonderlab and future educational and outreach events that will allow the public to explore the importance of scale in their everyday lives!

Willets group hosts members of the Skrabalak group at Temple University

Through CSENND, the Willets group hosts Ekta Verma and Megan Knobeloch from the Skrabalak group at Temple University where they collaborate to validate a center-level transparent conducting electrode for high-throughput characterization of plasmonic nanocrystals.

Chris Welch discusses innovation with CSENND members

Chris Welch of Welch Innovation (https://welchinnovation.com/), an independent research and consulting firm, and Executive Director of the Indiana Consortium for Analytical Science and Engineering (ICASE) met with CSENND members to discuss innovation topics as part of our June all-hands meeting.

Science and Scale for All Mural – CSENND partners with City of Bloomington Arts Commission

The Bloomington Arts Commission in collaboration with CSENND and CFC Properties is issuing an RFP for a mural to be located on the alley wall on the east side of The Kirkwood Apartments. The mural site is accessible from the alley immediately west of WonderLab and visible from Kirkwood Ave and the B-Line Trail. The…

Texas A&M Chemists Seek To Revolutionize Nanocrystal Research Through NSF-Funded Center

https://artsci.tamu.edu/news/2022/09/texas-am-chemists-seek-to-revolutionize-nanocrystal-research-through-nsf-funded-center.html

IU to lead NSF-funded center focused on transforming nanocrystal research

https://news.iu.edu/live/news/28034-iu-to-lead-nsf-funded-center-focused-on