Current Research
We explore on curious nanoscale phenomena at the interfaces between soft and hard matter, with particular interest in nanopore sensors, nanofluidics and nanoelectronics.
While pursuing in-depth scientific understanding, our research group drives the development of technologies in the fields of medical diagnostics, water filtration and energy harvesting. Those include:
- Single-molecule DNA sequencing using nanopores
- DNA data storage
- Rapid detection of contaminants in cell therapy manufacturing
- Nanofluidics and programmable materials
- Novel membranes for filtration and blue energy harvesting
- Advanced method for water purification
Our translational research resulted in 10 patents (granted or pending), out of which 5 patents are licensed by a major biotech company. Upon extensive research in electrochemical water treatment, our laboratory spun-off a cleantech company ReActo, focused on removing persistent contaminants from water.
Selected Publications
- R. K. Sharma, I. Agrawal, L. Dai, P. Doyle, and S. Garaj, “DNA Knot Malleability in Single-Digit Nanopores”, Nano Lett. 21, 3772 (2021).
- T. Liu, L. Song, K.-H. Tu, H. Schmidt, L. Chu, D. Xiang, J. Martin, G. Eda, C. Ross, and S. Garaj: “Crested two-dimensional transistors”, Nature Nanotechnol. 14, 223 (2019).
- A. Esfandiar, B. Radha,F. C. Wang,Q. Yang, S. Hu, S. Garaj, R. R. Nair, A. K. Geim, and K. Gopinadhan: “Size Effect in Ion Transport through Angstrom-Scale Slits”, Science 358, 511 (2017).
- S. Hong, C. Constans, M. V. Surmani Martins, Y. C. Seow, J. A. Guevara Carrió, and S. Garaj: “Scalable Graphene-Based Membranes for Ionic Sieving with Ultrahigh Charge Selectivity”, Nano Lett. 17, 728 (2017).
- S. Garaj, W. Hubbard, A. Reina, J. Kong, D. Branton, and J.A. Golovchenko: “Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane”, Nature 467, 190-193 (2010).
- B. Radha, A. Esfandiar, F. C. Wang, A. P. Rooney, K. Gopinadhan, A. Keerthi, A. Mishchenko, A. Janardanan, P. Blake, L. Fumagalli, M. Lozada-Hidalgo, S. Garaj, S. J. Haigh, I. V. Grigorieva, H. A. Wu, and A. K. Geim: “Molecular transport through capillaries made with atomic-scale precision”, Nature 538, 222 (2016).
- R. K. Sharma, I. Agrawal, L. Dai, P. S. Doyle, and S. Garaj: “Complex DNA knots observed with a nanopore sensor”, Nature Comm. 10, 4473 (2019).
- K. Bogaert, S. Liu, J. Chesin, D. Titow, S. Gradečak, and S. Garaj: “Diffusion-Mediated Synthesis of Mo2 / WS2 Lateral Heterostructures”, Nano Lett. 16, 5129 (2016).
- S. Garaj, S. Liu, J.A. Golovchenko, and D. Branton: “Molecule-hugging graphene nanopores”, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 12192-12196 (2013).
- D. Branton, D.W. Deamer, A Marziali, H. Bayley, S. A. Benner, T. Butler, M. Di Ventra, S. Garaj, A. Hibbs, X. Huang, S.B. Jovanovich, P.S. Krstic, S. Lindsay, X.S. Ling, C.H. Mastrangelo, A. Meller, J.S. Oliver, Y.V. Pershin, J.M. Ramsey, R. Riehn, G.V. Soni, V. Tabard-Cossa, M. Wanunu, M. Wiggin, and J.A. Schloss: “The potential and challenges of nanopore sequencing”, Nature Biotechnol. 26, 1146-153 (2008).
Affiliations & Links
- Singapore NRF Fellow
- Garaj Research Group