Education

• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 2013

Previous appointments

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas at Austin, 2019-2023

Research Statement

The Z Lab leverages a unique computational tool set to investigate the self-assembly, transport, and effective properties of colloidal materials, particularly those driven by or responsive to electromagnetic fields. Broadly, we are interested in (1) developing new computational methods that are both fast and accurate, (2) elucidating fundamental relationships among electromagnetic fields, colloid structure, colloid dynamics, and effective properties, and (3) applying this fundamental understanding for application-specific design of colloidal material technologies. Our specific interests include designing new optical metamaterials incorporated in optoelectronic devices, understanding field-driven transport of magnetic colloids within porous media for biomedical applications, and understanding charge transport in soft material electrolytes.

Select publications

1. K. Kim, Z. M. Sherman, A. Cleri, W. J. Chang, J.-P. Maria, T. M. Truskett, D. J. Milliron. Hierarchically Doped Plasmonic Nanocrystal Metamaterials. Nano Lett. 23, 7633–7641 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c02231
2. Z. M. Sherman, K. Kim, J. Kang, B. J. Roman, H. S. N. Crory, D. L. Conrad, S. A. Valenzuela, E. Lin, M. N. Dominguez, S. L. Gibbs, E. V. Anslyn, D. J. Milliron, T. M. Truskett. Plasmonic Response of Complex Nanoparticle Assemblies. Nano Lett. 23, 3030–3037 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00429
3. M. Singh*, Z. M. Sherman*, D. J. Milliron, T. M. Truskett. Linker-Templated Structure Tuning of Optical Response in Plasmonic Nanoparticle Gels. J. Phys. Chem. C 126, 16885–16893 (2022) *equal contribution https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c05353
4. Z. M. Sherman, J. W. Swan. Spontaneous Electrokinetic Magnus Effect. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 208002 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.208002
5. Z. M. Sherman, D. Ghosh, J. W. Swan. Field-Directed Self-Assembly of Mutually Polarizable Nanoparticles. Langmuir 34, 7117–7134 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b01135
6. Z. M. Sherman, J. W. Swan. Dynamic, Directed Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles via Toggled Interactions. ACS Nano 10 5260–5271 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b01050

Honors & awards

• Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Sciences, 2020
• MIT School of Engineering Graduate Student Award for Extraordinary Teaching and Mentoring, 2016
• MIT Deparment of Chemical Engineering Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, 2016
• Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholarship, 2013