RESEARCH AREAS

George C. Schatz

George C. Schatz Professor Northwestern University P: 847-491-5657 E: g-schatz@northwestern.edu Schatz Group B.S., Clarkson University, 1971; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1976

Biographical Sketch

George C. Schatz is Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University.  Degrees include a B. S. (1971) at Clarkson University and Ph. D. (1976) at Caltech, both in chemistry.  He was a postdoc at MIT, and has been at Northwestern since 1976.  Schatz has published three books and over 490 papers. Schatz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002), the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (2001) and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Research Statement

Research in the Schatz Group is concerned with theory and computational modeling in a variety of nanoscience topics as well as in related biophysics and materials areas.  Our nanoscience work has specialized in studies of the optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles, nanoholes in films and other nanostructured materials of relevance to chemical and biological sensing, and solar energy applications.  We have contributed to theories of DNA melting of nanoparticle aggregates, and have studied the phase diagram behavior of nanoscale lipid structures, including liposomes and lipoplexes.  Our group has also been involved in a wide variety of theoretical studies involving self-assembly processes, DNA and protein structures, transport in ion-channels, the deposition and patterning of molecules on surfaces, and the formation of water droplets on nanoscale structures.  In addition, we have worked actively in the modeling of the mechanical properties of hard materials, including diamond films and carbon nanotubes.

Publications

• “Electronic structure methods for studying surface-enhanced Raman scattering,” L. Jensen, C. M. Aikens and G. C. Schatz, Chem. Soc. Rev. 37, 1061-73 (2008).
• “Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Nanosensor: A High-Resolution Distance-Dependence Study Using Atomic Layer Deposition,” A. V. Whitney, J. W. Elam, S. Zou, A. V. Zinovev, P. C. Stair, G. C. Schatz and R. P. Van Duyne, J. Phys. Chem  B 109, 20522-28 (2005).
• “Using theory and computation to model nanoscale properties,” G. C. Schatz, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 6885-92 (2007).

Most Significant Honors & Awards

• Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Fellowship, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
• Fresenius Award, Phi Lambda Upsilon
• Max Planck Research Award, Max Planck Society
• Bourke Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry
• Fellow, American Physical Society
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science