Stefan Zauscher, Alfred M. Hunt Faculty Scholar and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Alfred M. Hunt Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of Graduate Studies  


Stefan Zauscher

My research lies at the intersection of surface and colloid science, polymer materials engineering, and biointerface science, with four central areas of focus: 1. Fabrication, manipulation and characterization of stimulus-responsive biomolecular and bio-inspired polymeric nanostructures on surfaces; 2. Nanotechnology of soft-wet materials and hybrid biological/non-biological microdevices; 3. Receptor-ligand interactions relevant to the diagnostics of infectious diseases; 4. Friction of soft-wet materials, specifically the role of glycoproteins on friction in diarthroidal joints. These four broad lines of inquiry deal with fundamental behaviors of soft-wet materials on surfaces and interfaces. The design and fabrication of these interfaces using "smart" polymeric and biomolecular nanostructures, and the characterization of the resulting structures, are critically important for the development of biomolecular sensors and devices and for bioinspired materials. Key approaches and tools I use in my research are: bottom-up organization on the molecular scale, through self-assembly, in-situ polymerization, and manipulation of intermolecular interactions; topdown fabrication, through scanning probe nanolithography; stimulus-responsive polymers; molecular recognition; and new approaches to sensing and manipulation. This research supports Duke's Pratt School of Engineering strategic initiative to expand research in soft-wet Materials Science.

Contact Info:
Office Location:  3385 CIEMAS
Office Phone:  (919) 660-5360, (919) 660-5310
Email Address:   send me a message
Web Page:

Education:

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000
MS, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1992
Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests:

Nano-mechanical and nano-tribological characterization (elasticity, friction, adhesion) of materials including organic thin films; self-assembled monolayers, polymeric gels, and cellulosics; Fabrication of polymeric nanostructures by scanning probe lithography; Colloidal probe and atomic force microscopy; Single molecule force spectroscopy applied to ligand-receptor binding; Biomolecular nano- and micro sensors

Specialties:

Nanomaterial manufacturing and characterization
Polymer and Protein Engineering
Materials
Nanoscience
Sensing and sensor systems
Manufacturing
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

ICCES Young Investigator Award, International Center for Computational Engineering Sciences, 2008
NSF Early CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2003
Oak Ridge Associated Universities Faculty Enhancement Award, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2001
Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Nanomedicine, 2005
Bronze Award for Scientific Achievement, 26th Army Science Conference, U.S. Army Research, 2008
Teaching (Fall 2012):

  • ME 514.001, THEORTICAL & APPLIED POLY SCI Synopsis
    TBA, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM
  • ME 514.01, THEORTICAL & APPLIED POLY SCI Synopsis
    TBA, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM
Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Tjong, V., Zhang, J., Chilkoti, A., Zauscher, S, Stimulus Responsive Polymers as Intelligent Coatings for Biosensors: Architectures, Response Mechanisms, and Applications, in Intelligent Surfaces in Biotechnology, edited by Textor M. and Grandin M (2012), John Wiley & Sons .
  2. Chen, Tao and Jordan, Rainer and Zauscher, Stefan, Extending micro-contact printing for patterning complex polymer brush microstructures, POLYMER, vol. 52 no. 12 (May, 2011), pp. 2461-2467 [doi]  [abs].
  3. Yang, Ye and Erb, Randall M. and Wiley, Benjamin J. and Zauscher, Stefan and Yellen, Benjamin B., Imaginary Magnetic Tweezers for Massively Parallel Surface Adhesion Spectroscopy, NANO LETTERS, vol. 11 no. 4 (April, 2011), pp. 1681-1684 [doi]  [abs].
  4. Chen, Tao and Jordan, Rainer and Zauscher, Stefan, Polymer brush patterning using self-assembled microsphere monolayers as microcontact printing stamps, SOFT MATTER, vol. 7 no. 12 (2011), pp. 5532-5535 [doi]  [abs].
  5. Ferris, R., Hucknall, A., Kwon, B.S., Chilkoti, A., Zauscher, S., Field-Induced Nanolithography for Patterning of Non-Fouling Polymer Brush Surfaces, Small (Accepted, 2011) .
Current Ph.D. Students  

  • Yee Lam  
  • Debby Chang  
  • Woo-Kyung Lee  
  • Alexei Valiaev  
  • Andres Garcia  
  • Jianming Zhang  
  • Jeff Coles  
Postdocs Mentored

  • Nehal Abu-Lail (Spring 2004- Summer 2006)  
  • Tao Chen (Summer 2007)  
  • Robert Ducker (Spring 2007)  
  • Marian Kaholek (Spring 2003 - Spring 2006)  
  • Sang-Jung Ahn (Fall 2001 - Spring 2004)  
  • Nelson Nunalee (Fall 2006 - Summer 2007)