ABSTRACT
The functional properties of materials are closely connected with their structures and the forces animating such structures, with the latter being particularly important for biomolecules. Precise knowledge of materials structure and force is thus critical to elucidating physical origins of materials properties. We have a long-standing interest in understanding how the force/structure-function relationships are manifested in diverse ranges of functional materials spanning from inorganic to biological systems. In this talk, I will introduce our main technique of x-ray/neutron scattering and how it is used to measure materials structure and force, and then discuss a few applications in systems such as inorganic perovskites and biogenic nucleic acids.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Qiu received BS in Physics and BE in Computer Science from University of Science and Technology of China in 1999 and obtained PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from Michigan State University in 2004. He then worked as a postdoc at Cornell University from 2004 to 2007 and as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2007 to 2010. In 2010, Dr. Qiu joined the George Washington University as an assistant professor of physics and now is an associate professor with tenure. His main research interest is to apply experimental techniques of physics to study the structure, function, and dynamics of biological molecules, supramolecular assemblies, and materials of technological importance.
Selected References:
- X. Qiu, J. W. Thompson, and S. J. L. Billinge, PDFgetX2: A GUI driven program to obtain the pair distribution function from x-ray powder diffraction data, Journal of Applied Crystallography, 37, 678 (2004).
- X. Qiu, Th. Proffen, J. F. Mitchell, and S. J. L. Billinge, Orbital correlations in the pseudo-cubic O and rhombohedral R-phases of LaMnO3, Physical Review Letters, 94, 177203 (2005).
- X. Qiu, D. C. Rau, V. A. Parsegian, L. T. Fang, C. M. Knobler, and W. M. Gelbart, Salt-dependent DNA-DNA spacings in intact bacteriophage lambda reflect relative importance of DNA self-repulsion and bending energies, Physical Review Letters, 106, 028102 (2011).
- S. C. Howell, K. Andresen, I. Jimenez-Useche, C. Yuan, and X. Qiu, Measuring inter-nucleosome interactions and the roles of histone tails, Biophysical Journal, 105, 194–199, (2013).
- X. Qiu, V. A. Parsegian, and D. C. Rau, Divalent counterion induced condensation of triple-strand DNA, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (50), 21482–21486 (2010).