Daniel K. Schwartz

Education

PhD in Physics, Harvard University (1991)
AB summa cum laude in Chemistry and Physics, Harvard University (1984)

Selected Honors and Awards

• American Chemical Society Langmuir Award (2024)
• Outstanding Graduate Advisor, CU-Boulder College of Engineering & Applied Science (2023)
• Dean’s Performance Award for Outstanding Research (2016)
• Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research (2014)
• Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2014)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society (2011)
• Graduate Teaching Award (student-awarded), CU-Boulder ChBE Dept. (2011, ‘15, ‘17, ‘19)
• Faculty Research Award, CU-Boulder College of Engineering (2010)
• Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Research (2008)
• CU-LEAD Alliance Faculty Appreciation Award (2006)
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1999)
• NSF/CAREER Award (1998)
• Mortarboard Honor Society Salute for Excellence in Teaching (1997, 1998, 1999)
• Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award (1994)

Selected Publications

Anni Shi, Siamak Mirfendereski, Ankur Gupta, and Daniel K. Schwartz, "Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Transport in an Interconnected Porous Environment: Decoupling Cavity Escape and Directional Bias”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 122, e2514874122 (2025); 10.1073/pnas.2514874122

Héctor Sánchez-Morán, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Combinatorial High-Throughput Screening of Enzyme Immobilization Supports to Enable Supra-Biological Properties”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 9112–9123 (2024); doi:10.1021/jacs.3c14273

Héctor Sánchez-Morán, Jason Berberich, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Supra-Biological Performance of Immobilized Enzymes Enabled by Chaperone-like Specific Non-Covalent Interactions”, Nature Communications, 15, 2299 (2024); doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46719-5

Anni Shi, Haichao Wu, and Daniel K. Schwartz, "Nanomotor-Enhanced Transport of Passive Brownian Particles in Porous Media”, Science Advances, 9, eadj2208 (2023) doi:10.1126/sciadv.adj2208

Albert Velasco Abadia, Grant E. Bauman, Timothy J. White, Daniel K. Schwartz, Joel L. Kaar, "Direct Ink Writing of Enzyme-Containing Liquid Crystal Elastomers as Versatile Biomolecular-Responsive Actuators", Advanced Materials Interfaces, 10, 2300086 (2023); doi:10.1002/admi.202300086

Héctor Sánchez-Morán, Luciana Rocha Barros Gonçalves, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, “Framework for Optimizing Polymeric Supports for Immobilized Biocatalysts by Computational Analysis of Enzyme Surface Hydrophobicity”, ACS Catalysis, 13, 4304-4315 (2023); doi:10.1021/acscatal.3c00264

Albert Velasco Abadia, Katie M. Herbert, Valentina M. Matavulj, Timothy J. White, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, “Chemically Triggered Changes in Mechanical Properties of Liquid Crystal Polymer Networks with Immobilized Urease”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 143, 16740–16749 (2021); doi:10.1021/jacs.1c08216

Raphael Sarfati, Christopher P. Calderon, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Enhanced Diffusive Transport in Fluctuating Porous Media”, ACS Nano, 15, 7392-7398 (2021); doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c00744

Haichao Wu, Benjamin Greydanus, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Mechanisms of Transport Enhancement for Self-Propelled Nanoswimmers in a Porous Matrix”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, e2101801118 (2021); doi:10.1073/pnas.2101807118

Andres F. Chaparro Sosa, Riley M. Bednar, Ryan A. Mehl, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, “Faster Surface Ligation Reactions Improve Immobilized Enzyme Structure and Activity”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 143, 7154-7163 (2021); doi:10.1021/jacs.1c02375

Connor J. Thompson, Vinh H. Vu, Deborah E. Leckband, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Cadherin Cis- and Trans-Interactions are Mutually Cooperative”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, e2019845118  (2021): doi:10.1073/pnas.2019845118.

Haichao Wu and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Nanoparticle Tracking to Probe Transport in Porous Media” , Accounts of Chemical Research, 53, 2130-2139 (2020); doi:10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00408

Andres F. Chaparro Sosa, Kenneth J. Black, Daniel F. Kienle, Joel L. Kaar, and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Engineering the Composition of Heterogeneous Lipid Bilayers to Stabilize Tethered Enzymes”, Advanced Materials Interfaces, 7, 2000533 (2020); doi:10.1002/admi.202000533

Dapeng Wang and Daniel K. Schwartz, “Non-Brownian Interfacial Diffusion: Flying, Hopping, and Crawling”, J. Phys Chem C, 124, 19880-19891 (2020); doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c05834

James S. Weltz, Daniel F. Kienle, Daniel K. Schwartz, and Joel L. Kaar, “Reduced Enzyme Dynamics upon Multipoint Covalent Immobilization Leads to Stability-Activity Tradeoff”, J .Am. Chem. Soc.142, 3463-3471 (2020); doi:10.1021/jacs.9b11707

Carolyn A. Schoenbaum, Daniel K. Schwartz, and J. Will Medlin, “Controlling the Surface Environment of Heterogeneous Catalysts Using Self-Assembled Monolayers”, Accounts of Chemical Research, 47, 1438-1445 (2014); doi:10.1021/ar500029y

Michael J. Skaug, Joshua Mabry, Daniel K. Schwartz, “Intermittent Molecular Hopping at the Solid-Liquid Interface”, Physical Review Letters, 110, 256101 (2013)

Stephen T. Marshall, Marykate O’Brien, Brittany Oetter, April Corpu, Ryan M. Richards, Daniel K. Schwartz, J. William Medlin, “Controlled Selectivity for Palladium Catalysts using Self-assembled Monolayers”, Nature Materials, 9, 853-858 (2010)

Research Interests

Colloids and Interfaces, Transport in porous/nonporous materials, Single-molecule microscopy, Separations, Biomolecules at interfaces, Surface modification by self-assembly, Heterogeneous Catalysis/Biocatalysis, Biomaterials.

Molecular Transport at Interfaces

The dynamic behavior of molecules and nanoparticles at interfaces leads to complex phenomena, where heterogeneity may arise from spatial variation of the interface itself, from molecular structures, or through inhomogeneous dynamic behavior. To obtain relevant information about these complex dynamics, we have developed highly multiplexed single-molecule/single-particle tracking methods that acquire large numbers of trajectories permitting rigorous analysis using statistical modeling and machine learning. A specific discovery that was enabled by these methods involves the ubiquitous intermittent motion (i.e. “hopping diffusion”) of molecules at interfaces, which was explicitly confirmed using 3D double-helix point spread function imaging. Ongoing research studies the impacts of interfacial dynamics on various technological applications, membrane biophysics, and separations processes.

Transport in Porous and Complex Materials

Work in our lab has explored the motion of Brownian, pressure-driven, and self-propelled molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles within highly interconnected porous environments (both static and dynamic), leading to insights linking microscopic pore-scale mechanisms to macroscopic transport. Ongoing research includes fundamental studies of mass transport in complex interface-rich environments and within nominally non-porous materials, as well as more applied studies of phenomena in porous filtration and separations media that are relevant to energy and pharmaceutical technologies.

Biomolecules at Interfaces

Biomacromolecules, like proteins and DNA, interact in complex ways at interfaces and within interface-rich materials. We are studying the structural changes that occur when proteins and oligonucleotides adsorb or are immobilized at solid surfaces and at the air/water interface using single-molecule tracking fluorescence microscopy and other tools. We are particularly interested in understanding how surface-mediated structural changes (e.g. protein unfolding and refolding) influence applications including biosensing, biocatalysis, biomaterials, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines.

Catalyst Surface Modification using Self-assembled Monolayers

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) represent a versatile coating technology with applications in biocompatibility, nanotechnology, biosensors, corrosion resistance, and molecular electronics. We study the growth and structure of SAMs, ultra-thin molecular films adsorbed from solution on solid surfaces, and we are particularly interested in the use of SAMs to modify heterogeneous catalysts, to control activity and selectivity in thermal, biphasic, and electrochemical reactions.