Dr. Jill Millstone spends a lot of time in her nanoparticle lab at the University of Pittsburgh figuring out how to keep tiny groups of metal atoms from sticking together. To explain why, she uses two analogies.
First, imagine shaking a bottle of vinegar and oil. At first there are tiny globules of oil swimming in the vinegar, but over time, the oil sticks together in bigger and bigger blobs. Likewise, nanoparticles want to get back together with their fellow particles.
To understand why she wants to keep these particles apart, she offers the idea of a silver fork: a salad fork and a serving fork are basically the same, they look about the same, they tarnish at the same rate, and they conduct heat in the same way. But at the nanoscale, silver has very different properties depending on large the group of atoms is.
Studying the properties of silver and other elements at the nanoscale (she works with materials only slightly larger than the width of a DNA strand and much smaller than an eyelash) might not yield a marketable product anytime in the next year, or next decade, but it does have the potential to change the world.
“It keeps me in the glass half full category because there are so many tools out there still for us to add to the toolbox,” said Millstone, Leo B. and Teresa Y. Wegemer Professor of Chemistry. “We have a lot of problems coming down the pike (global, environmental, medical) without solutions today but with effort and some inspiration there are answers to be found and nanoparticles are very likely part of the answer.”
Because this type of basic research does not lead to a quick profit, most companies no longer invest in it. Federal grants for such early-stage investigations are also hard to come by, which leaves our future in the hands of philanthropy.
“It is a huge honor to be recognized with the Leo B. and Teresa Y. Wegemer chair. When my team and I learned about the support that it offers, we were all very moved. This support makes a huge difference in our ability to do fundamental research that could someday cure diseases, improve the environment, and solve problems we do not yet know exist.” - Jill Millstone
Along with her work in the lab, Millstone teaches students at all levels – mentoring graduate students as well as undergraduate basic chemistry classes.
“In the same way society believes everyone can appreciate art, we should have that attitude about science,” Millstone said. “Everyone can appreciate the beauty of the universe and how it works.”