About the Center for Functional Nanomaterials

The Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) is a Nanoscale Science Research Center operated for the U.S. Department of Energy at Brookhaven National Laboratory. As a national scientific user facility, the CFN provides users a research experience supported by top-caliber scientists and with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. The CFN mission is advancing nanoscience, by being an essential resource for the worldwide scientific community and by carrying out transformative nanoscience research to support the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. Strategic partnerships are crucial to CFN mission success, including the strong synergy with the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), also located at Brookhaven.

Efforts are focused on developing nanomaterial synthesis-by-assembly methods and realizing functional material designs from polymer, nanoparticle, biomolecule-based, and 2D material components. Automation of the synthesis-by-assembly process will provide parallelism and reproducibility, facilitate assembly of increasingly complex architectures, provide control of assembly pathways, and allow incorporation of real-time feedback during processing. Advanced characterization and new methods to probe structure include nanoscale coherent X-ray beams at NSLS-II and 3D imaging of nanostructures by cryo- and in-liquid electron microscopy. Theory and simulation complement the experimental effort, including developing effective self-assembly strategies, assessing the inherent stability of resulting morphologies, and mapping the advantages and limitations imposed by kinetics.