Grayson Jackson

Gray originally hails from the great state of Texas. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Creighton University in 2013. He then worked for Prof. Mahesh Mahanthappa at the University of Wisconsin and his graduate research studied the how confinement within the nanometer-sized pores affects water and ion transport. After helping Mahesh move the research lab to the University of Minnesota and receiving his PhD in Materials Chemistry, Gray joined Heinrich's lab in the Summer of 2018. His current work is divided into two areas: (1) nanoparticle sheets and (2) dense suspensions.

Gray has developed a novel approach to construct porous ultrathin hydrocarbon membranes from e-beam irradiation and etching of nanoparticle sheets. The nanoparticle cores play a key role in generating secondary electrons which crosslink the organic ligand matrix AND templating the hollow pore structure.

As a card-carrying (seriously, ask him to show you his periodic table business card!) chemist, Gray has expanded on work started by Nicole James (Jaeger PhD 2019) investigating the role of particle surface chemistry in shear thickening suspensions. He also collaborates with the Rowan group (UChicago PME) to integrate dynamic covalent chemistry into dense suspensions.

In his free time, Gray enjoys playing tennis, exploring the many breweries of Chicago, cycling along the lakeshore path, and playing with his adorable pup Domino.