Dr. Zahra Fakhraai

Biography

Zahra Fakhraai is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics from Sharif University of Technology in Iran, followed by a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Waterloo in 2007. Fakhraai pursued her postdoctoral studies at the University of Toronto and later at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow. Her research interests include Physical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry, focusing on the effects of nano-confinement and interfacial interactions on the structure, dynamics, and properties of nanostructured materials. Her work also investigates the differences in behavior of materials at small length scales compared to bulk properties, crucial for technological applications in organic electronics, polymer nanocomposites, and biomolecular drugs. Fakhraai explores the fundamental physics of confinement phenomena, contributing to the design of novel materials with exceptional stability in glassy states and unique optical properties of disordered nanoparticle clusters. She actively uses advanced imaging techniques to study amyloid aggregates, enhancing the understanding of self-assembly processes within nanoscale contexts.

Research Interests

Experience