Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Alex Smolyanitsky
Materials Scientist
Research interests:
I use theory, particle-based simulations, and quantum-chemical calculations to perform interdisciplinary studies of nanoscale phenomena with a special focus on the properties of solid-solid/solid-liquid interfaces and the effects of confinement. My interests range from the frictional properties of two-dimensional materials to the design of nanoscale/biomimetic devices for molecular sensing, separation, and energy storage.
If you are a postdoctoral candidate, we have openings that are immediately available to all US Citizens through the NRC Research Associateship Program (see below). If you have any questions, please email me.
Postdoctoral openings:
Theory and Simulation of Nanoscale Systems and Devices
Data-driven model development for property prediction in alloys and composites
Selected publications:
A. Smolyanitsky, A. Fang, A.F. Kazakov, and E. Paulechka, Ion transport across solid-state ion channels perturbed by directed strain. Nanoscale 2020, 12(18), 10328-10334
A. Fang and A. Smolyanitsky, Large Variations in the Composition of Ionic Liquid-Solvent Mixtures in Nanoscale Confinement. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2019, 11(30), 27243-27250.
A. Fang, K. Kroenlein, D. Riccardi, and A. Smolyanitsky, Highly mechanosensitive ion channels from graphene-embedded crown ethers. Nature Materials 2019, 18(1), 76-81.
A. Smolyanitsky, E. Paulechka, and K. Kroenlein, Aqueous Ion Trapping and Transport in Graphene-Embedded 18-crown-6 Ether Pores. ACS Nano 2018, 12(7), 6677-6684.
A. Smolyanitsky, B. I. Yakobson, T. A. Wassenaar, E. Paulechka, K. Kroenlein, A MoS2-Based Capacitive Displacement Sensor for DNA Sequencing. ACS Nano 2016, 10(9), 9009-9016.
E. Paulechka, T. A. Wassenaar, K. Kroenlein, A. Kazakov, and A. Smolyanitsky, Nucleobase-functionalized graphene nanoribbons for accurate high-speed DNA sequencing. Nanoscale 2016, 8 (4), 1861-1867.
Z. Deng, A. Smolyanitsky, Q. Li, X.-Q. Feng, R. J. Cannara, Adhesion-dependent negative friction coefficient on chemically modified graphite at the nanoscale. Nature Materials 2012, 11 (12), 1032-1037.
A. Smolyanitsky, J. P. Killgore, V. K. Tewary, Effect of elastic deformation on frictional properties of few-layer graphene. Phys. Rev. B 2012, 85 (3), 035412.
A. Smolyanitsky, J. P. Killgore, Anomalous friction in suspended graphene. Phys. Rev. B 2012, 86 (12).