Education

• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, 2001

Previous appointments

• Postdoctoral Associate, NIST Center for Neutron Research, 2006-2007

Research Statement

Research in the Pozzo group centers on the development, measurement and control of self-assembly processes for soft materials over nanometer and micrometer scales. This manipulation of complex material structures results in novel properties that optimize their use in engineering applications.

Current projects

High-Throughput Experimentation (HTE) and Data Science for Materials Design

Laboratory automation tools are being developed and used by the Pozzo laboratory to accelerate the pace of materials discovery. Robotic tools and efficient experimental screening methods allow us to execute experiments and to collect data with far increased efficiency. This enables the application of advanced analytical tools including supervised/unsupervised learning, dimensionality reduction and classification/sorting to extract additional value from data streams and to tackle increasingly complex problems with many interdependent factors.

Functional Emulsions

We are broadly interested in the synthesis of emulsions and in understanding the fundamental science that controls their behavior for uses in targeted applications. For example, emulsion contrast agents can undergo a phase transition from liquid to vapor upon irradiation with light and/or ultrasound fields. The formation of this vapor cavity creates increased contrast for ultrasound imaging and can also be used for active thrombolysis, the mechanical destruction of an occlusion (clot) inside blood vessels.

Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion

High-throughput experiments and data science tools are also being used to develop the next generation of electrolytes for grid-scale electrochemical energy storage from earth-abundant materials. Moreover, the group is also developing new mechanisms to study and control the structure and properties of conjugated polymers and of blends of conjugated and engineering polymers to achieve functional materials with optimal mechanical, electrochemical and optical performance.

Select publications

1. “On-Demand Sonochemical Synthesis of Ultrasmall and Magic-Size CdSe Quantum Dots in Single-Phase and Emulsion Systems”, R Kastilani, B. Bishop, V. Holmberg, LD Pozzo, Langmuir, 35 (50), 16583 (2019)
2. “Contrast-variation Time-resolved SANS Analysis of Oil Exchange Kinetics Between Oil-in-water Emulsions Stabilized by Anionic Surfactants” YT Lee, LD Pozzo, Langmuir, 35 (47), 15192 (2019)
3. “Assessment of molecular dynamics simulations for amorphous poly(3-hexylthiophene) using neutron and X-ray scattering experiments” CM Wolf, KH Kanekal, YY Yimer, M Tyagi, S Omar-Diallo, V Pakhnyuk, CK Luscombe, J Pfaendtner and LD Pozzo, Soft Matter, 15, 5067 - 5083 (2019)
4. “Ultrasound-based formation of nano-Pickering emulsions investigated via in-situ SAXS” YT Lee, DS. Li, J. Ilavsky, I. Kuzmenko, GS. Jeng, M. O'Donnell, LD. Pozzo, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 15, 281. (2019)
5. “Spontaneous Nucleation of Stable Perfluorocarbon Emulsions for Ultrasound Contrast Agents” DS Li, S Schneewind, M Bruce, Z Khaing, M O’Donnell, LD Pozzo, Nano Letters, 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03585 (2018)
6. “Polypyrrole Coated Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions as a Sono-Photoacoustic Contrast Agent” DS Li, SJ Yoon, I Pelivanov, M Frenz, M O’Donnell, LD Pozzo, Nanoletters, 17(10), 6184 (2017)
7. “Electric field directed formation of aligned conjugated polymer fibers”, Y Xi, LD Pozzo, Soft Matter, 13 (21), 3894, (2017)
8. “Solvatochromism and Conformational Changes in Fully Dissolved Poly (3-alkylthiophene)s” GM Newbloom, SM Hoffmann, AF West, MC Gile, P Sista, HKC Cheung, J. Pfaendtner, LD Pozzo, Langmuir, 31 (1), 458 (2015)
9. “Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by Nanoparticle Surfactants”, K. Larson-Smith, D.C. Pozzo, Langmuir, 28(32): 11725 (2012)
10. “Scalable Synthesis of Self-Assembling Nanoparticle Clusters Based on Controlled Steric Interactions” K. Larson-Smith and D.C. Pozzo, Soft Matter, 7, 5339 (2011)

Honors & awards

• NSSA Anne Mayes Neutron Scattering Prize, 2022
• DOE Women in Clean Energy C3E Education Award, 2018
• UW College of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award, 2018
• UW Latinx Faculty Recognition Award, 2017
• Department of Energy Early Career Award, 2013
• UW Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2013

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