I am both proud and dismayed by the fact that I am a graduate of the Moscow State University. I owe a debt of rigorous hard-core education in mathematics and sciences to this school named after eminent polymath Lomonosov. For example, I benefited from the multifaced legacy of an electrochemist Alexander Frumkin and a colloidal chemist Petr Rebinder. Furthermore, my initial steps in research were shaped by the department and the laboratory built by Nobel laureate Nikolay Semyonov and some of the most dedicated and talented scientists I would imagine. The “can-do” culture was inspirational for many young scientists educated in this culture including several of my colleagues here in the United States of America. At the same time, I am utterly disappointed by the subsequent scientific trajectory of my alma mater reflecting the autocratic trends in my former country of residence.
Early on, my interests were centered on solar energy conversion in bacteria and plants, laying the foundation for lifelong pursuits in biomimetics. After dabbing in 1985-1986 with laser materials, I chose the development of experimental models of photosynthesis for my undergraduate research projects. I vividly remember the excitement of synthesizing the surface-active porphyrins and the joy of recording the first photocurrent curves at the liquid-liquid interfaces replicating light-induced charge separation in thylakoid membranes using a self-built photoelectrochemical chamber.
It was also a time when the financial and political dysfunction of the Soviet Union became obvious. Science and scientists were some of the convenient victims. But it was also an opportunity to find a different way to go forward in understanding the intricacies of charge separation in biology. When chemicals ran out, I switched to modeling by taking advantage of some knowledge of FORTRAN and ALGOL from the high school times. Fortunately, the computational models of photon-driven charge transport across immiscible liquids were not too hard. the match of the computed and experimental curves was, nevertheless, quite remarkable, which made a lifelong impression on me guiding many other projects.
My immigration to the United States in 1992 coincided with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. For a fresh doctorate from the other side of the iron curtain, the change in geography was an eye-opening experience. The passage through the passport controls opened the literal doors to personal and intellectual freedom. I am incredibly grateful to my post-doctoral adviser Janos Fendler who was also a fellow immigrant for enabling this step. At Syracuse University where Janos was at that time, I started working on replicas of the photosynthesis using nascent toolbox of nanotechnology. We started looking into the electrochemistry of nanoparticles at liquid-liquid and liquid-air interfaces. This line of inquiry led to self-assembly of nacre-like nanocomposites from polydisperse nanoparticles of clay and graphite oxide. The discovery happened quickly and serendipitously in 1994 during a short stay in Szeged University in the laboratory of Imre Dekany. A planned electrochemical project did not work out and I started exploring layer-by-layer assembly – new method discovered by Gero Decher I have heard about from a conference talk of Michael Rubner.
Starting from August 1996, the work on the layer-by-layer assembly and nanoparticle self-organization continued at the Oklahoma State University. Despite a continuing big change in climate and culture, Stillwater was a right place for me because it was an independent research position. The learning curve was steep, however and I had a lot of memorable failures during this period. There were also unexpected technical challenges. The lab space was not ready until next summer and the electron microscopy instrumentation was not adequate for materials research. The experience from the Moscow lab and time in a building camp in Kazakhstan, where “the harder, the better” was the spirit of many, came quite handy. The first results on gas transport through the nacre-like composites were obtained on samples made my office space using plasticware from a Walmart nearby. I also started atomistic modeling of nanoscale interfaces looking at the evidence of charge transfer through the organic-inorganic interface through the hybrid conjugated states. I was incredibly lucky that future superstar academician Dr. Zhiyong Tang contacted me looking for a postdoctoral position. I vividly remember how I picked him up in the OKC airport. The Science paper on pearl-necklace assemblies of nanoparticles was the first on for both of us. A serendipitous email from another amazingly successful individual, a future graduate student and prolific scientific entrepreneur Arif Mamedov was also a strike of good fortune. These two young scientists with the help of several other very gifted researchers, such as Datatri Nagesha, Ying Wang, Jaebeom Lee, Andrei Rogach, Stefan Mussig, Dmitri Koktysh, and Todd Crisp, were the catalysts that made possible the transition from a disarmingly empty room to a revving scientific engine in less than four years.
The experimental and computational work during the work in Oklahoma, not only helped us understand better colloidal thermodynamics and nanoscale organization but it also put the first blocks in the foundations of complex nanosystems and quantitative biomimetics. Some of the seemingly simplistic experiments enabled practical applications in many areas of chemistry and chemical engineering including energy, biomedicine, and sustainability. About the same time, my wife and I started our first company, Nico Technologies Inc, that eventually scaled up the production of ultrastrong biomimetic composites. The transition from self-assembly in beakers to the roll-to-roll-made biomimetic composites was ccelerated by the encounter with a visionary entrepreneur Colin J. Cumming, the founder of Nomadics Inc in Stillwater OK, who gave me lifelong guidance in translational research.
Upon joining the University of Michigan, the development of bioinspired nanocomposites, complex nanoscale assemblies, and biomimetic nanoparticles continued. I owe a lot of gratitude to the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Michigan and specifically to Ron Larson who remains an example of work ethics and in-depth knowledge for me. Having a solid support from my colleagues from multiple disciplines across campus, the research became even more exciting. Further developments of complex biomimetic materials culminating in the development of transparent composite armor, artificial bone marrow, aramid nanofiber networks, cartilage-mimetic membranes, chiral nanostructures, and bright chiroptical light-emitters. It also resulted in the development of graph theory (GT) of nanoscale assemblies. Together with the better understanding of nanostructures at interfaces, the use of GT parameters as structural descriptors for biomaterials led to quantitative biomimetics. GT also became a unified language for structural description and modeling of proteins and nanoparticles. Altogether, this seemingly distant branch of mathematics puts a spotlight onto the intricate organization and dynamic reorganization of some of the most universal nanoscale components of Nature.
This journey would be impossible without the contributions of Dattatri Nagesha, Arif Mamedov, Alexey Sinyagin, David Diaz, Todd Crisp, Birol Ozturk, Jaebeom Lee, Silvia E. Castillo-Blum, Natalya Mamedova-Smith, Ying Wang, Andrei Rogach, John Ostrander, Stefan Mussig, Dmitri Koktysh, Sebastian Westenhoff, Miguel A. Correa-Duarte, Isabel Pastoriza-Santos, Wei Chen, Shan Wickramanayake, Vladimir A. Sinani, Seong Il Yoo, Srinivasa R. Pullela, Paul Podsiadlo, Bong Sup Shim, Ashish Agarwal, Takuya Nakashima, Vincent Ball, Sudhanshu Srivastava, Kevin Critchley, Sang-Ho Cha, Daniele Lilly, Wei Chen, Meghan Cuddihy, Jing Lyu, Edward Jan, Sachin Shanbhag, Peter Ho, Paul Nkanzah, Nadine Kam, Marek Grzelczak, Andrés Guerrero-Martínez, Huanan Zhang, Jian Zhu, Ming Yang, Christine Andres, Jungwoo Lee, Marc Michel, Bongjun Yeom, Joong Hwan Bahng, Wenchun Feng, Yunlong Zhou, Jai Il Park, Insoo Choi, Tao Hu, Dawei Deng, Xyanyong Liu, Mehmet Yilmaz, Jiheyon Yeom, Yunlong Zhou, Yoonseob Kim, Terry Shyu, Matthew Di Prima, Liguang Xu, Shuang Jiang, Ji-Young Kim, Gleiciani de Q. Silveira, Yu Ma, Volcan Cecen, Wenfeng Jian, Naomi Ramesar, Yichun Wang, Mische Hubbard Zhi-bei Qu, Elizabeth Wilson, Sunihl Ma, Douglas Montjoy, Hong Ju Jung, Bum Chul Park, Lehao Liu, Bong Gill Choi, Vera Kuznetsova, Jun Lu, Engin Er, Connor N. McGlothin, Ahmet Emre, Lizhi Xu, Mahshid Chekini, Sumeyra Emre, Siu on Tung, Anastasia Visheratina, Minjeong Cha, Keiichi Yano, Chung-Man Lim, Kalil Bernardino, Mingqiang Wang, Prashant Kumar, Wonjin Choi, Xiao Shao, Yuan Cao, Drew Vecchio, and all the other alumni and current group members.
Giant thanks to my colleagues and illustrious alumni Jungwoo Lee, Yichun Wang, and Ji-Young Kim who managed to organize this symposium. My exceptional gratitude to them for finding time between the multitude of their own calendar entries.