Department of Chemistry Phone: (979) 458-2858
Texas A&M University Fax: (979) 845-4719
P.O. Box 30012 E-mail: schaak@mail.chem.tamu.edu
College Station , TX 77842-3012 URL: http://www.chem.tamu.edu/faculty/schaak
2001 – 2003 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Chemistry and
Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University
Advisor: Prof. Robert J. Cava
1998 – 2001 Ph.D., chemistry, Pennsylvania State University (NSF Graduate Fellow)
Advisor: Prof. Thomas E. Mallouk
1994 – 1998 B.S., chemistry (honors, ACS certified), Lebanon Valley College
Research advisors: Profs. Donald B. Dahlberg and Richard D. Cornelius
2004 – present Member, Materials Science and Engineering Faculty, Texas A&M University
2003 – present Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University
DuPont Young Professor Grant, 2006 – 2009
Beckman Young Investigator Award, 2006 – 2009
NSF CAREER Award, 2006 – 2011
American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Type G New Faculty Award, 2004 – 2006
National School on X-ray and Neutron Scattering, Argonne National Laboratories, 2001
Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award (Silver), 2000
Dan Waugh Memorial Teaching Award (Honorable Mention), Pennsylvania State University , 2000
Graduate Student Research Award, Pennsylvania State University , 2000, 2001
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 1999-2001
Department of Defense Graduate Fellowship Competition (Honorable Mention), 1999
University Graduate Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University, 1998-1999
Roberts Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University, 1998-2000
Andrew Bender Memorial Chemistry Award, Lebanon Valley College , 1998
Departmental Honors (Chemistry), Lebanon Valley College , 1998
Phi Alpha Epsilon Honors Society, Lebanon Valley College , 1998
Freshman/Sophomore/Physical Chemistry Awards in Chemistry, Lebanon Valley College , 1995, 1996, 1997
Member, American Chemical Society (Inorganic division, Solid-State & Nanoscience subdivisions)
Peer Reviewer, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Chemistry of Materials, Inorganic Chemistry, Langmuir, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Advanced Functional Materials, Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Chemical Communications, Journal of Materials Chemistry, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Chemical Physics Letters, Materials Research Bulletin, Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Nanotechnology
Proposal Reviewer, ACS – PRF and NSF (CHE/IBO, CHE/ASC, DMR/SSC, DMR/MET)
Invited participant, NSF Workshop on Materials Chemistry and Nanoscience (2004)
Invited participant, NSF Workshop on Inorganic Chemistry (2005)
Invited participant, NSF panel on The Status of Solid State Chemistry and its Impact in the Physical Sciences – Synthesis and New Materials (2006)
Symposium Organizer (Inorganic Synthetic Strategies in Nanoscience), 2006 Spring ACS meeting ( Atlanta )
Symposium Organizer (Presidential Event; Poster Session – SWNTs from Synthesis to Applications, From the Lab to the Fab: In Memory of Dr. Richard Smalley), 2006 Fall ACS meeting ( San Francisco )
Symposium Organizer ( Solid State Chemistry ), 2006 Midwest ACS Regional Meeting ( Quincy , IL )
Symposium Organizer (Nanoscale Inorganic Catalysis), 2007 Spring ACS meeting ( Chicago )
Research Interests
Solid-state chemistry; new low-temperature synthetic routes to solid-state materials; solid-state reactivity, reactions, and reaction pathways; intermetallic and alloy nanomaterials; nanoparticle self-assembly; metastable materials; multifunctional composites; nanostructured catalysts; low-temperature routes to nano-structured non-oxide ceramics; non-lithographic patterning; synthesis and structures of complex materials.
2007 Princeton University ( 03/01/07 ) – Selected, invited, and hosted by graduate students
Air Products ( Allentown , PA ; March 2007)
2006 Iowa State University ( 11/17/06 )
41 st Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society ( 10/25/06 – 10/27/06)
61 st Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society ( 10/19/06 – 10/22/06)
Pennsylvania State University ( 09/25/06 )
Duquesne University ( 09/22/06 )
Carnegie Mellon University ( 09/21/06 )
Trans-Atlantic Frontiers in Chemistry ( 08/10/06 – 08/13/06)
Solid State Chemistry Gordon Research Conference ( 07/23/06 – 07/28/06)
Inorganic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference ( 07/16/06 – 07/21/06)
38 th Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society ( 06/04/06 – 06/07/06)
Kentucky State University ( 04/28/06 )
American Chemical Society – Lexington (KY) Section ( 04/27/06 )
231 st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society – Symposium on “Nanotechnology
and the Environment” ( 03/26/06 )
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill ( 02/28/06 )
University of North Carolina – Charlotte ( 02/27/06 )
North Carolina State University ( 02/24/06 )
2005 Pacifichem 2005 [Keynote speaker, symposium on “Solid State Chemistry: Novel Syntheses
and New Materials”] ( 12/19/05 )
Lebanon Valley College ( 11/21/05 )
Bloomsburg University ( 11/18/05 )
University of Texas – Dallas ( 09/21/05 )
DuPont – Central Research and Development, Experimental Station, Wilmington DE [Discovery Chemistry Seminar Series] ( 09/14/05 )
230 th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society – ExxonMobil Solid State Faculty Fellowship Award Symposium honoring Ram Seshadri ( 08/30/05 )
NSF Inorganic Chemistry Workshop ( 06/07/05 – 06/10/05)
University of California – Davis ( 05/12/05 )
2004 Texas A&M University – Commerce ( 11/18/04 )
NSF Materials Workshop ( 10/28/04 – 10/31/04)
Texas Lutheran University ( 09/24/04 )
Current and Awarded Funding
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Advaned Research Program) – “Chemical Synthesis of Nanostructured Shape Memory Alloys” [$100,000: 2006 – 2008]
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship – Awarded to Amanda Henkes [$121,500: 2006 – 2009]
DuPont Young Professor Grant – Nominated by Nyrissa Rogado [$75,000: 2006 – 2009]
Beckman Young Investigator Award – “A New Polymer-Assisted Galvanic Approach to Hollow Multi-Metal Nanospheres for Biomedical, Plasmonic, and Fuel Cell Applications [$264,000: 2006 – 2009]
ACS-PRF (Type AC) – “New Structures of Old Elements: Low-Temperature Solution Routes to Metastable Polymorphs” [ $80,000: 2006 – 2008]
NSF-CAREER (DMR/SSC) – “Low-Temperature Solution Synthesis of Intermetallic Nanomaterials” [$551,588: 2006 – 2011]
Robert A. Welch Foundation – “Synthesis of Exotic Solid-State Materials with Nanoscale Geometric Confinement” [$150,000: 2004 – 2007]
ACS-PRF (Type G and Summer Research Fellowship Supplement) – “Synthesis and Thermodynamic Studies of Atomically Ordered Nanocrystals” [$43,000: 2004 – 2006]
Teaching
Undergraduate : General Chemistry for Engineering Students, Advanced Inorganic Laboratory
Graduate: Advanced Materials Chemistry, Graduate Seminar
Service ( Texas A&M)
Executive Committee, Materials Science & Engineering Ph.D. Program
College of Science representative, Electron Microscopy Advisory Committee for the Microscopy and Imaging Center
Faculty advisor, Texas A&M Chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon
Member, Service Course Curriculum Committee
Coordinator, Inorganic Student Research Seminars
Internal Selection Committees (various), Office of Sponsored Projects limited submission proposal panels
Member, Center for Microchemical Systems.
Current Research Group
Robert Cable 3 rd year graduate student (2003 – present)
Brian Leonard 3 rd year graduate student (2003 – present)
Yolanda Vasquez 3 rd year graduate student (2003 – present)
J. Chris Bauer 2 nd year graduate student (2004 – present)
Amanda Henkes 2 nd year graduate student (2004 – present) – NSF Grad Fellowship Awardee
Nam Hawn Chou 2 nd year graduate student (2004 – present)
Nathaniel Henderson 1 st year graduate student (2005 – present) – NSF Grad Fellowship Hon. Ment.
Farah Dawood 1 st year graduate student (2005 – present)
Trevor Ewers Undergraduate (2003 – present; chemistry major)
Jason Knight Undergraduate (2006 – present; biomedical engineering major)
Jeffrey Karnes Undergraduate (2006 – present; chemistry major)
Aaron Ofczarzak Undergraduate (2006 – present; chemical engineering major)
Nicholas Fox Undergraduate (summer 2006; NSF-REU student from Bloomsburg Univ. )
Matthew Sanders Undergraduate (2006 – present; mechanical engineering major)
Former Group Members
Amandeep Sra Postdoc, 2003 – 2005 (currently a research scientist at UT-Dallas)
Ronaldo Cavazos Undergraduate, 2003 – 2004 (currently a high school teacher in Misson, TX)
Brent Norris Undergraduate, 2003 – 2005 (currently a grad student at UT-Austin)
Christopher Dilley Undergraduate, 2003
Edward Funck Undergraduate (NSF-REU), 2004 (currently a grad student at Texas A&M)
Zachary Schaefer Undergraduate (NSF Summer Program in Solid State Chemistry), 2005
(currently a grad student at Texas A&M)
Oliver Willingham Undergraduate, 2005 (civil engineering major)
Eric Hendrickson Undergraduate, 2005 (currently working at General Electric, Houston TX )
Raiman Johnson Undergraduate, 2005
Dawood Afzal Visiting Professor (Truman State Univ., supported by PRF), Summer 2005
Student Presentations and Posters
Student Awards (external awards are highlighted)
Publications from Texas A&M (since June 2003)
34. N.H. Chou* and R.E. Schaak, “Shape-Controlled Synthesis of Intermetallic FeSn 2 and PdSn Nanocrystals,” submitted.
33. A.E. Henkes,* Y. Vasquez,* and R.E. Schaak, “Synthesis of PdP 2 and Pd 5P 2 Nanostructures: Solution-Mediated Conversion of Metals into Metal Polyphosphides,” submitted .
32. R.E. Cable* and R.E. Schaak, “Reacting the Unreactive: A Toolbox of Low-Temperature Solution-Mediated Reactions for the Facile Interconversion of Nanocrystalline Intermetallic Compounds ,” submitted.
31. B.M. Leonard* and R.E. Schaak , “Multi-Step Solution-Mediated Formation of Nanocrystalline AuCuSn 2: Mechanistic Insights for the Guided Design of Intermetallic Solid State Materials and Complex Multi-Metal Nanocrystals,” submitted to J. Am. Chem. Soc. [In revision – acceptance pending revision ]
30. A.K. Sra, T.D. Ewers, # Q. Xu, H. Zandbergen, and R.E. Schaak, “One-Pot Synthesis of Bi-Disperse FePt Nanoparticles and Spontaneous Assembly into Two-Dimensional AB 2, AB 5, and AB 13 Superlattices,” Chem. Commun . 2006 , 750-752.
29. C.-C. Chen, Y. Bisrat, Z. Luo, R.E. Schaak, C.-G. Chao, and D.C. Lagoudas, “Fabrication of Single Crystal Tin Nanowires by Hydraulic Pressure Injection,” Nanotechnology2006, 17, 367-374.
28. A.E. Henkes,* J.C. Bauer,* R.D. Johnson, # A.K. Sra, R.E. Cable,* and R.E. Schaak, “Low-Temperature Nanoparticle-Directed Solid State Synthesis of Ternary and Quaternary Transition Metal Oxides,” Chem. Mater.2006, 18, 567-571.
27. R.E. Cable* and R.E. Schaak, “Low-Temperature Solution Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Binary Intermetallic Compounds using the Polyol Process,” Chem. Mater.2005, 17, 6835-6841.
26. Y. Vasquez,* A.K. Sra, and R.E. Schaak, “One-Pot Synthesis of Hollow Superparamagnetic CoPt Nanospheres,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.2005, 127, 12504-12505.
25. B.M. Leonard,* N.S.P. Bhuvanesh, and R.E. Schaak, “Low-Temperature Polyol Synthesis of AuCuSn 2 and AuNiSn 2: Using Solution Chemistry to Access New Ternary Intermetallic Compounds as Nanocrystals,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.2005, 127, 7326-7327.
[Featured in Chemical & Engineering News ( May 16, 2005 ) and Gold Bulletin (Vol. 38, #3, 2005)]
24. R.E. Schaak, A.K. Sra, B.M. Leonard,* R.E. Cable,* J.C. Bauer,* Y.-F. Han, J. Means, W. Teizer, Y. Vasquez,* E.S. Funck, # “Metallurgy in a Beaker: Nanoparticle Toolkit for the Rapid Low-Temperature Solution Synthesis of Functional Multimetallic Solid State Materials,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.2005, 127, 3506-3515.
[Featured in Chemical & Engineering News ( May 16, 2005 ) and NanoTech Alert – Technical Insights (Frost & Sullivan, Feb 25, 2005 )]
23. T.D. Ewers, # A.K. Sra, B.C. Norris, # R.E. Cable,* C.-H. Cheng, D.F. Shantz, and R.E. Schaak, “Spontaneous Hierarchical Assembly of Rhodium Nanoparticles into Spherical Aggregates and Superlattices,” Chem. Mater.2005, 17, 514-520.
22. A.K. Sra, T.D. Ewers, # and R.E. Schaak, “Direct Solution Synthesis of Intermetallic AuCu and AuCu 3 Nanocrystals and Nanowire Networks,” Chem. Mater.2005, 17, 758-766.
21. A.K. Sra and R.E. Schaak, “Synthesis of Atomically Ordered AuCu and AuCu 3 Nanocrystals from Bimetallic Nanoparticle Precursors,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 6667-6672.
20. N.M. Abrams and R.E. Schaak, “Self-Assembled Colloidal Crystals: Visualizing Atomic Crystal Chemistry using Microscopic Analogues of Inorganic Solids,” J. Chem. Educ., 2005, 82, 450-452.
19. R.E. Schaak, R.E. Cable,* B.M. Leonard,* and B.C. Norris, # “Colloidal Crystal Microarrays and Two-Dimensional Superstructures: A Versatile Approach for Patterned Surface Assembly,” Langmuir2004, 20 , 7293-7297.
18. R.J. Cavazos # and R.E. Schaak, “Synthesis of the New Layered Oxides NaRbLnMO 5 (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd; M = Nb, Ta)”, Mater. Res. Bull.2004, 39 , 1209-1214.
Publications – Prior to Texas A&M (graduate and postdoctoral work)
17. R.E. Schaak and R.J. Cava, “Boron Substitution in Ternary Metal Phosphide Superconductors,” Mater. Res. Bull.2004, 39, 1231-1235.
16. J.W. Lynn, Q. Huang, C.M. Brown, V.L. Miller, M.L. Foo, R.E. Schaak, C.Y. Jones, E.A. Mackey, and R.J. Cava, “Structure and Dynamics of Superconducting Na xCoO 2 Hydrate and Its Unhydrated Analog,” Phys. Rev. B., 2003, 68, 214516.
15. B.G. Ueland, P. Schiffer, R.E. Schaak, M.L. Foo, V.L. Miller, and R.J. Cava, “Specific Heat Study of the Na 0.3CoO 2·1.3H 2O Superconductor: Influence of the Complex Chemistry,” Physica C, 2004, 402, 27-30.
14. R.E. Schaak, T. Klimczuk, M.L. Foo, and R.J. Cava, “Superconductivity Phase Diagram of Na xCoO 2·1.3H 2O,” Nature , 2003, 424, 527-529.
13. M.L. Foo, R.E. Schaak, V.L. Miller, T. Klimczuk, N.S. Rogado, Y. Wang, G.C. Lau, C. Craley, H.W. Zandbergen, N.P. Ong, and R.J. Cava, “Chemical Instability of the Cobalt Oxyhydrate Superconductor Under Ambient Conditions,” Solid State Commun., 2003, 127, 33-37.
12. R.E. Schaak, M. Avdeev, W.-L. Lee, G. Lawes, H.W. Zandbergen, J.D. Jorgensen, N.P. Ong, A.P. Ramirez, and R.J. Cava, “Formation of Transition Metal Boride and Carbide Perovskites Related to Superconducting MgCNi 3,” J. Solid State Chem . , 2004, 177 , 1244-1251.
11. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Exfoliation of Layered Rutile and Perovskite Tungstates,” J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 2002, 706-707.
10. R.E. Schaak, D. Afzal, J.A. Schottenfeld, and T.E. Mallouk, “Na 2Ln 2Ti 3-xMn xO 10 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy; 0 £ x £ 1): A New Series of Ion-Exchangeable Layered Perovskites Containing B-Site Manganese,” Chem. Mater., 2002, 14, 442-448.
9. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Perovskites by Design: A Toolbox of Solid-State Reactions,” Chem. Mater., 2002, 14, 1455-1471. [Review article; featured on the cover, April 2002]
8. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “KLnTiO 4 (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy): A New Series of Ruddlesden-Popper Phases Synthesized by Ion Exchange of HLnTiO 4,” J. Solid State Chem., 2001, 161, 225-232.
7. R.E. Schaak, E.N. Guidry, and T.E. Mallouk, “Converting a Layer Perovskite into a Non-Defective Higher-Order Homologue: Topochemical Synthesis of Eu 2CaTi 2O 7,” J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 2001, 853-854.
6. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Prying Apart Ruddlesden-Popper Phases: Exfoliation into Sheets and Nanotubes for Assembly of Perovskite Thin Films,” Chem. Mater., 2000, 12, 3427-3434.
5. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Self-Assembly of Tiled Perovskite Monolayer and Multilayer Thin Films,” Chem. Mater., 2000, 12, 2513-2516.
4. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Synthesis, Proton Exchange, and Topochemical Dehydration of New Ruddlesden-Popper Tantalates and Titanotantalates,” J. Solid State Chem., 2000, 155, 46-54.
3. G.L. Egan, J.-S. Yu, C.H. Kim, S.J. Lee, R.E. Schaak, and T.E. Mallouk, “Nanoscale Metal Replicas of Colloidal Crystals ,” Adv. Mater., 2000, 12, 1040-1042.
2. R.E. Schaak and T.E. Mallouk, “Topochemical Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Perovskites from Lamellar Precursors,” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, 2798-2803.
1. R.E. Schaak, D.B. Dahlberg, and K.B. Miller, “The Electronic Nose: Studies on the Fundamental Response and Discriminative Power of Metal-Oxide Sensors,” Electronic Noses and Sensor Array Based Systems, Design and Applications, Proceedings of the 5 th International Symposium of Olfaction and Electronic Nose, Ed. W. Jeffrey Hurst, 1999, Technomic Pub. Co., Inc.