UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — More than 60 scientists from prominent U.S. and global research institutions gathered this past summer for the Seventh International Symposium on Monolayer-Protected Clusters, hosted by the Department of Chemistry in the Penn State Eberly College of Science.
The three-day conference included talks and poster sessions on state-of-the-art research and practical applications of monolayer-protected clusters — materials with a metallic core, often gold, that are surrounded by ligands, with properties useful for accelerating reactions, sensing, quantum information and biomedicine. Experimental and theoretical talks covered aspects ranging from synthesis, characterization, spectroscopy, catalysis and biological interactions.
The symposium rotates between host universities in North America, Europe and Asia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first conference to be held since 2019, and Penn State was chosen as the North American location.
“We were honored to host leading researchers from across the world to discuss the latest research and define possible future avenues of exploration in this quickly expanding nanomaterial research field,” said Ken Knappenberger, department head and professor of chemistry and one of the Penn State conference organizers. “Penn State has a long history of strong materials research, and our current focus in this area of chemistry is structure control. Monolayer-protected clusters are systems in which you can tune their function with an unprecedented level of control because their structure is at the atomic level.”
Knappenberger noted that the University’s extensive materials-related facilities alongside the chemistry department’s deep bench of a wide range of expertise — including theoreticians, experimentalists and synthetic researchers — positioned the University well in hosting the conference.
“We have a network of collaborators who have both the intellectual and research infrastructures to be able to take one researcher’s interests and synergize to make something bigger than the individual,” he said. "[The department] has individuals here who can model, make and measure. ... These areas of chemical research are part of a bigger effort at Penn State and in the chemistry department for structural precision across length skills — from atomic to molecular — to form materials that will have some targeted property."
The symposium is one of several conferences and workshops hosted by the chemistry department over the past few months that have drawn researchers from around the globe. Others included the department’s Sixth Bioinorganic Workshop, the 52nd Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society and the inaugural Center for RNA Molecular Biology symposium in the Eberly College of Science.
Honoring electrochemistry pioneer Royce Murray
On the last day of the conference, scientists including Shaowei Chen, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California Santa Cruz, gathered for a special session honoring renowned analytical chemist Royce Murray, who trailblazed research in the areas of chemically modified electrodes, electrochemistry of superconductors and nanoparticles, and inspired many researchers, including some at Penn State, before his death in 2022.
They also shared stories of his teaching, mentorship, advice and leadership.
“My first day in [Murray’s] group was a hot, humid summer day in August. I was nervous to figure out my next steps, and the first slide that he showed said, ‘Murray’s job is to provide vision, seek resources and keep order. Students do all the rest,’” Chen said. “Dr. Murray had a huge impact on my career. He was a role model, and my two years in University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, working with him were incredibly impactful for me — both personally and professionally. I was grateful that Dr. Murray never said a harsh word. I was really grateful for his patience.”
Several other scientists who were once mentored by Murray also spoke at the session, sharing their research and personal anecdotes about their former mentor’s phenomenal contributions to the field.
Mary Beth Williams, acting dean of the Penn State Eberly College of Science and professor of chemistry, touched upon Murray’s dual abilities to “push scientific frontiers in a way that no others did at the time,” while also uplifting other around him and pushing them to pursue greatness.
“Royce was a phenomenal storyteller. He thought with such clarity and wrote with precision. If you worked with him in the classroom, his sketches helped you think through complex scientific problems, even as a novice,” Williams said. “It was his ability to think clearly that helped me and many others work through our own science, and to develop as writers and communicators of our work.”