Daniel K.Schwartz

  • Glenn L. Murphy Professor of Engineering
  • CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Dan Schwartz in a button-down shirt
Address

Office: JSCBB D124
Mailbox: 596 UCB

Education

PhD in Physics, Harvard University (1991)
AB summa cum laude in Chemistry and Physics, Harvard University (1984)

Selected Honors and Awards

  • American Chemical Society Langmuir Award (2024)
  • Outstanding Graduate Advisor, CU-抖阴传媒在线 College of Engineering & Applied Science (2023)
  • Dean鈥檚 Performance Award for Outstanding Research (2016)
  • Dean鈥檚 Award for Outstanding Research (2014)
  • Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2014)
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society (2011)
  • Graduate Teaching Award (student-awarded), CU-抖阴传媒在线 ChBE Dept. (2011, 鈥15, 鈥17, 鈥19)
  • Faculty Research Award, CU-抖阴传媒在线 College of Engineering (2010)
  • 抖阴传媒在线 Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Research (2008)
  • CU-LEAD Alliance Faculty Appreciation Award (2006)
  • Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1999)
  • NSF/CAREER Award (1998)
  • Mortarboard Honor Society Salute for Excellence in Teaching (1997, 1998, 1999)
  • Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award (1994)

Selected Publications

Anni Shi, Siamak Mirfendereski, Ankur Gupta, and Daniel K. Schwartz, "Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Transport in an Interconnected Porous Environment: Decoupling Cavity Escape and Directional Bias鈥, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 122, e2514874122 (2025); 10.1073/pnas.2514874122

H茅ctor S谩nchez-Mor谩n, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淐ombinatorial High-Throughput Screening of Enzyme Immobilization Supports to Enable Supra-Biological Properties鈥, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 9112鈥9123 (2024); doi:10.1021/jacs.3c14273

H茅ctor S谩nchez-Mor谩n, Jason Berberich, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淪upra-Biological Performance of Immobilized Enzymes Enabled by听Chaperone-like听Specific Non-Covalent Interactions鈥, Nature Communications, 15, 2299 (2024); doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46719-5

Anni Shi, Haichao Wu, and Daniel K. Schwartz, "Nanomotor-Enhanced Transport of Passive Brownian Particles in Porous Media鈥, Science Advances, 9, eadj2208 (2023) doi:10.1126/sciadv.adj2208

Albert Velasco Abadia, Grant E. Bauman, Timothy J. White, Daniel K. Schwartz, Joel L. Kaar, "Direct Ink Writing of Enzyme-Containing Liquid Crystal Elastomers as Versatile Biomolecular-Responsive Actuators", Advanced Materials Interfaces, 10, 2300086 (2023); doi:10.1002/admi.202300086

H茅ctor S谩nchez-Mor谩n, Luciana Rocha Barros Gon莽alves, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, 鈥淔ramework for Optimizing Polymeric Supports for Immobilized Biocatalysts by Computational Analysis of Enzyme Surface Hydrophobicity鈥, ACS Catalysis, 13, 4304-4315 (2023); doi:10.1021/acscatal.3c00264

Albert Velasco Abadia, Katie M. Herbert, Valentina M. Matavulj, Timothy J. White, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, 鈥淐hemically Triggered Changes in Mechanical Properties of Liquid Crystal Polymer Networks with Immobilized Urease鈥, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 143, 16740鈥16749 (2021); doi:10.1021/jacs.1c08216

Raphael Sarfati, Christopher P. Calderon, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淓nhanced Diffusive Transport in Fluctuating Porous Media鈥, ACS Nano, 15, 7392-7398 (2021); doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c00744

Haichao Wu, Benjamin Greydanus, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淢echanisms of Transport Enhancement for Self-Propelled Nanoswimmers in a Porous Matrix鈥,听Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,听118, e2101801118 (2021); doi:10.1073/pnas.2101807118

Andres F. Chaparro Sosa, Riley M. Bednar, Ryan A. Mehl, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, 鈥淔aster Surface Ligation Reactions Improve Immobilized Enzyme Structure and Activity鈥,听J. Am. Chem. Soc.,听143, 7154-7163 (2021); doi:10.1021/jacs.1c02375

Connor J. Thompson, Vinh H. Vu, Deborah E. Leckband, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淐adherin Cis- and Trans-Interactions are Mutually Cooperative鈥,听Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,听118, e2019845118 听(2021): doi:10.1073/pnas.2019845118.

Haichao Wu and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淣anoparticle Tracking to Probe Transport in Porous Media鈥 ,听Accounts of Chemical Research,听53, 2130-2139 (2020); doi:10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00408

Andres F. Chaparro Sosa, Kenneth J. Black, Daniel F. Kienle, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淓ngineering the Composition of Heterogeneous Lipid Bilayers to Stabilize Tethered Enzymes鈥,听Advanced Materials Interfaces,听7, 2000533 (2020); doi:10.1002/admi.202000533

Dapeng Wang and Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淣on-Brownian Interfacial Diffusion: Flying, Hopping, and Crawling鈥,听J. Phys Chem C,听124, 19880-19891 (2020); doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c05834

James S. Weltz, Daniel F. Kienle, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, 鈥淩educed Enzyme Dynamics upon Multipoint Covalent Immobilization Leads to Stability-Activity Tradeoff鈥,听J .Am. Chem. Soc.142, 3463-3471 (2020); doi:10.1021/jacs.9b11707

Carolyn A. Schoenbaum, Daniel K. Schwartz, and J. Will Medlin, 鈥淐ontrolling the Surface Environment of Heterogeneous Catalysts Using Self-Assembled Monolayers鈥,听Accounts of Chemical Research,听47, 1438-1445 (2014); doi:10.1021/ar500029y

Michael J. Skaug, Joshua Mabry, Daniel K. Schwartz, 鈥淚ntermittent Molecular Hopping at the Solid-Liquid Interface鈥,听Physical Review Letters,听110, 256101 (2013)

Stephen T. Marshall, Marykate O鈥橞rien, Brittany Oetter, April Corpu, Ryan M. Richards, Daniel K. Schwartz, J. William Medlin, 鈥淐ontrolled Selectivity for Palladium Catalysts using Self-assembled Monolayers鈥,听Nature Materials,听9, 853-858 (2010)

Research Interests

Colloids and Interfaces, Transport in porous/nonporous materials, Single-molecule microscopy, Separations, Biomolecules at interfaces, Surface modification by self-assembly, Heterogeneous Catalysis/Biocatalysis, Biomaterials.

Molecular Transport at Interfaces

The dynamic behavior of molecules and nanoparticles at interfaces leads to complex phenomena, where heterogeneity may arise from spatial variation of the interface itself, from molecular structures, or through inhomogeneous dynamic behavior. To obtain relevant information about these complex dynamics, we have developed highly multiplexed single-molecule/single-particle tracking methods that acquire large numbers of trajectories permitting rigorous analysis using statistical modeling and machine learning. A specific discovery that was enabled by these methods involves the ubiquitous intermittent motion (i.e. 鈥渉opping diffusion鈥) of molecules at interfaces, which was explicitly confirmed using 3D double-helix point spread function imaging. Ongoing research studies the impacts of interfacial dynamics on various technological applications, membrane biophysics, and separations processes.

Transport in Porous and Complex Materials

Work in our lab has explored the motion of Brownian, pressure-driven, and self-propelled molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles within highly interconnected porous environments (both static and dynamic), leading to insights linking microscopic pore-scale mechanisms to macroscopic transport. Ongoing research includes fundamental studies of mass transport in complex interface-rich environments and within nominally non-porous materials, as well as more applied studies of phenomena in porous filtration and separations media that are relevant to energy and pharmaceutical technologies.

Biomolecules at Interfaces

Biomacromolecules, like proteins and DNA, interact in complex ways at interfaces and within interface-rich materials. We are studying the structural changes that occur when proteins and oligonucleotides adsorb or are immobilized at solid surfaces and at the air/water interface using single-molecule tracking fluorescence microscopy and other tools. We are particularly interested in understanding how surface-mediated structural changes (e.g. protein unfolding and refolding) influence applications including biosensing, biocatalysis, biomaterials, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines.

Catalyst Surface Modification using Self-assembled Monolayers

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) represent a versatile coating technology with applications in biocompatibility, nanotechnology, biosensors, corrosion resistance, and molecular electronics. We study the growth and structure of SAMs, ultra-thin molecular films adsorbed from solution on solid surfaces, and we are particularly interested in the use of SAMs to modify heterogeneous catalysts, to control activity and selectivity in thermal, biphasic, and electrochemical reactions.