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Research

We are interested in critically understanding the thermodynamics of nanoparticles, chiefly how their surfaces and surface molecules influence stability, growth, and properties. Our research expertise is in utilizing precision calorimetry to gain novel insights into materials system in combination with spectroscopic and characterization techniques. Our approach to understanding materials has broadly encompassed three different research areas:

  • Manipulating surfaces of nanoparticles to change thermodynamic properties

    • Nanomaterials occupy an unique space between the molecular realm (with discrete atoms bonded together into a small structure) and bulk materials (that are often treated as infinite arrangements of atoms from a molecular perspective). Rather, a nanocrystal has a lattice of atoms that is finite, and at small scales of a couple of nanometers, these nanocrystals can have half of their atoms residing on the surface. Because of this, surface chemistry of nanomaterials has an outsized influence on their properties, influencing their optical and thermodynamic properties. This feature also enables unique methods, such as calorimetry, to be easily used to probe surface chemistry and reveal interesting insights into their thermodynamic properties, such as surface energy.

    The past thirty years of nanocrystal science has resulted in a library of syntheses that generate nanocrystal of many different sizes, shapes, compositions, and surface coatings. Understanding how crystal faceting or organic ligands on their surfaces drive growth and stability is critical to developing high quality materials for a variety of applications. Our group specializes in creating well-defined materials that allow us to answer these fundamental questions.

  • Understanding design principles of quantum dots for quantum information applications

    • Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that exhibit size dependent optical properties. The most successful applications of these materials has been in display applications, where the colors generated are emitted by different sizes of nanocrystals. One of the big questions in the field of quantum dots is where can we go from here, now that we have engineered high efficiency quantum dot emitters over the visible spectrum with environmentally friendly materials

    One application that we are particularly interested in is using nanocrystals as hosts for quantum information. Quantum dots are single photon emitters, and can store and transmit quantum information. However, current materials are not of high enough quality or uniformity for these applications. Developing design principles to engineer materials that could be used for this next frontier of computing is one of the main applications of our research.

  • Incorporating organic chiral molecules with inorganic nanoparticles to understand novel chiral phenomena

    • One of the most fundamentally interesting features of the natural world is chirality. From the chirality of the weak force in particle physics to the observation of only one handedness in amino acids, this unique property appears in many disparate areas of science. However, fundamental questions about chirality, such as the origin of chirality in the organic molecules of life to the magnitude of chirality-induced spin selectivity remain tantalizingly unanswered.

    While chirality is fundamental in much of organic chemistry, chirality in inorganic materials is much less common. However, by coupling organic molecules on the surfaces of inorganic nanocrystals, such as quantum dots, these materials can exhibit properties such as circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence. With this organic-inorganic hybrid material, we will probe and seek to understand unique chiral phenomenon with our wide variety of synthetic inorganic nanocrystals and the development of new chiral molecules to interface with them.

    Team


    Jason J. Calvin (CV)
    Email: jasonjcalvin@miami.edu

    Jason is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Miami. Previously Jason worked in the research group of Jarad Mason as a postdoctoral fellow. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley advised by Paul Alivisatos in 2022. Prior to that, he got his B.S. in Chemistry from Brigham Young University in 2018 and worked in the research group of Brian Woodfield.


    Publications

    • Chen, F.E.; Braun, J.D.; Seo, J.; Hurd, H.J.; Wenny, M.B.; Zheng, S.; Calvin, J.J.; Brown, C.M.; Mason, J.M. Manipulating hydrocarbon chain-melting transitions in dialkylammonium halide barocaloric materials through desymmetrization. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147(23), 19788–19795.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Brewer, A.S.; Alivisatos, A.P. Thermodynamics and modeling of collective effects in the organic ligand shell of colloidal quantum dots. Acc. Chem. Res. 2025, 58(2), 271–280.

    • Calvin, J.J.; DelRe, C.; Erdosy, D.P.; Cho, J.; Hong, H.; Mason, J.A. Thermodynamics of polyethylene glycol intrusion in microporous water. Nano Lett. 2024, 24(49), 15896–15903.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Sedlak, A.B.; Brewer, A.S.; Kaufman, T.M.; Alivisatos, A.P. Evidence and structural insights into a ligand-mediated phase transition in the solvated ligand shell of quantum dots. ACS Nano 2024, 18(36), 25257–25270.

    • Dahl, J.C.; Curling, E.B.; Loipersberger, M.; Calvin, J.J.; Head-Gordon, M.; Chan, E.M.; Alivisatos, A.P. Precursor chemistry of lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals. ACS Nano 2024, 18(33), 22208–22219.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Brewer, A.S.; Crook, M.F.; Kaufman, T.M.; Alivisatos, A.P. Observation of negative surface and interface energies of quantum dots. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2024, 121(18), e2307633121.

    • Brewer, A.S.; Calvin, J.J.; Alivisatos, A.P. Impact of uniform facets on the thermodynamics of ligand exchanges on colloidal quantum dots. J. Phys. Chem. C 2023, 127(21), 10270–10281.

    • McKeown-Green, A.S.; Ondry, J.C.; Crook, M.F.; Calvin, J.J.; Alivisatos, A.P. Examining the role of chloride ligands on defect removal in imperfectly attached semiconductor nanocrystals for 1D and 2D attachment cases. J. Phys. Chem. C 2023, 127(16), 7740–7751.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Ben-Moshe, A.; Curling, E.B.; Brewer, A.S.; Sedlak, A.B.; Kaufman, T.M.; Alivisatos, A. P. Thermodynamics of the adsorption of cadmium oleate to cadmium sulfide quantum dots and implications of a dynamic ligand shell. J. Phys. Chem. C 2022, 126(30), 12958–12971.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Brewer, A.S.; Alivisatos, A.P. The role of organic ligand shell structures in colloidal nanocrystal synthesis. Nat. Synth. 2022, 1(2), 127–137.

    • Calvin, JJ.; Ondry, J.C.; Dahl, J.C.; Sedlak, A.B.; McKeown-Green, A.S.; Wang, X.; Crook, M.F.; Gleason, S.P.; Hauwiller, M.R.; Baranger, A.M.; Alivisatos, A.P. Research group-led undergraduate research program: Analyzing and improving a versatile springboard for first-year undergraduates. J. Chem. Ed. 2022, 99(2), 799–809.

    • Dickson, M.S.; Rosen, P.F., Neilsen, G.; Calvin, J.J.; Navrotsky, A.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of partially dehydrated sodium and zinc zeolite A (LTA). Am. Mineral. 2022, 106(8), 1341–1348.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Kaufman, T.M.; Sedlak, A.B.; Crook, M.F.; Alivisatos, A.P. Observation of ordered organic capping ligands on semiconducting quantum dots via powder X-ray diffraction. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 2663.

    • Rosen, P.F.; Calvin, J.J.; Woodfield, B.F.; Smolyaninova, V.N.; Prestigiacomo, J.C.; Osofsky, M.S.; Smolyaninov, I.I. Normal state specific heat of a core-shell aluminum-alumina metamaterial composite with enhanced Tc. Phys. Rev. B 2021, 103(2), 024512.

    • Calvin, J.J.; O'Brien, E.A.; Sedlak, A.B.; Balan, A.D.; Alivisatos, A.P. Thermodynamics of coverage dependent ligand exchange on the surfaces of colloidal InP quantum dots. ACS Nano 2021, 15(1), 1407–1420.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Swabeck, J.K.; Sedlak, A.B.; Kim, Y.; Jang, E.; Alivisatos, A.P. Thermodynamic investigation of increased luminescence in indium phosphide quantum dots by treatment with metal halide salts. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142(44), 18897–18906.

    • Hauwiller, M.R.; Ye, X.; Jones, M.R.; Chan, C.M.; Calvin, J.J.; Crook, M.F.; Zheng, H.; Alivisatos, A.P. Tracking the effects of ligands on oxidative etching of gold nanorods in graphene liquid cell electron microscopy. ACS Nano 2020, 14(8), 10239–10250.

    • Rosen, P.F.; Dickson, M.S.; Calvin, J.J.; Ross, N.L.; Friščić, T.; Navrotsky, A.; and Woodfield, B.F. Thermodynamic evidence of structural transformations in CO2-loaded metal–organic framework Zn(MeIm)2 from heat capacity measurements. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142(10), 4833–4841.

    • Chen, J.; Calvin, J.J.; King, S.W.; Woodfield, B.F.; Navrotsky, A. Energetics of porous amorphous low-k SiOCH dielectric films. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 139, 105885.

    • Dickson, M.S.; Calvin, J.J.; Rosen, P.F.; Woodfield, B.F. Low-temperature heat capacity measurements on insulating powders sealed under pressure. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 136, 170–179.

    • Rosen, P.F.; Calvin, J.J.; Dickson, M.S.; Katsenis, A.D.; Friščić, T.; Navrotsky, A.; Ross, N.L.; Kolesnikov, A.I.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of crystalline forms of the metal–organic framework zinc 2-methylimidazolate, Zn(MeIm)2. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 136, 160–169.

    • Hauwiller, M.R.; Ondry, J.C.; Calvin, J.J.; Baranger, A.M.; Alivisatos, A.P. Translatable research group-based undergraduate research program for lower-division students. J. Chem. Ed. 2019, 96(9), 1881–1890.

    • Asplund, M.; Calvin, J.J.; Zhang, Y.; Huang, B.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of γ-Al2O3 synthesized from Al(NO3)3. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 132, 295–305.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Rosen, P.F.; Smith, S.J.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacities and thermodynamic functions of the ZIF organic linkers imidazole, 2-methylimidazole, and 2-ethylimidazole. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 132, 129–141.

    • Skotnicki, M.; Drogoń, A.; Calvin, J.J.; Rosen, P.F.; Woodfield, B.F.; Pyda, M. M. Heat capacity and enthalpy of indapamide. Thermochim. Acta 2019, 647, 36–43.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Rosen, P.F.; Ross, N.L.; Navrotsky, A.; Woodfield, B.F. Review of surface water interactions with metal oxide nanoparticles. J. Mater. Res. 2019, 634(3), 416–427.

    • Chen, J.; Calvin, J.J.; Asplund, M.; King, S.W.; Woodfield, B.F.; Navrotsky, A. Heat capacities, entropies, and Gibbs free energies of formation of low-k amorphous Si(O)CH dielectric films and implications for stability during processing. J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 128, 320–335.

    • Chen, J.; Niu, M.; Calvin, J.J.; Asplund, M.; King, S.W.; Woodfield, B.F.; Navrotsky, A. Thermodynamics of amorphous SiN(O)H dielectric films synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 2018, 101(5), 2017–2027.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Asplund, M.; Zhang, Y.; Huang, B.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of boehmite (AlOOH) and silica-doped boehmite. J. Chem. Thermoydn. 2018, 118, 338–345.

    • Asplund, M.; Calvin, J.J.; Zhang, Y.; Huang, B.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of silica-doped γ-Al2O3. J. Chem. Thermoydn. 2018, 118, 165–174.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Asplund, M.; Akimbekov, Z.; Ayoub, G.; Katsensis, A.D.; Navrotsky, A.; Friščić, T.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of crystalline and amorphous forms of the metal organic framework zinc 2-ethylimidazolate, Zn(EtIm)2. J. Chem. Thermoydn. 2018, 116, 341–351.

    • Calvin, J.J.; Asplund, M.; Zhang, Y.; Huang, B.; Woodfield, B.F. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of γ-Al2O3. J. Chem. Thermoydn. 2017, 112, 77–85.

    News

    • March 2025 - Jason Calvin will be joining the Department of Chemistry at the University of Miami in August of 2025.

    Instrumentation

    Check back soon to see when we have new instrumentation and capabilities in the lab!

    Contact

    The Calvin Lab is currently accepting new graduate students. Students will receive training in nanocrystal synthesis and characterization including calorimetry, spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Prospective graduate students interested in joining the group must first submit an application to the chemistry graduate program.

    The Calvin Lab is actively looking to recruit a postdoctoral associate to begin in 2026. Applicants should have a strong background in single particle spectroscopy. Experience with quantum dots would be preferable but not necessary. Interested applicants should email their CV alongside their previous research experience to Jason Calvin.