Luis M. Campos

Luis M. Campos is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University.
Early life.
Campos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. He remained in his hometown until the age of 11, where he moved to Los Angeles, California.
Campos attended California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he would ultimately graduate with a B.Sc. in chemistry in 2001. Working under Miguel García-Garibay and Kendall Houk’s supervision, he later attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a graduate student where he received a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2006. He then attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he worked on polymer chemistry with Craig Hawker.
Career.
Campos has started his independent academic career in 2011 at Columbia University in the Department of Chemistry. At Columbia, Campos is directing a research team with broad interests focused on nanostructured materials, macromolecular systems, and single-molecule electronics.
Research.
Campos research group explores molecular, macromolecular, and nanostructured materials that allow for advanced functional systems to be formed. The group is trained to adjust such materials using molecular design. Campos’ main strategy is to be able to understand a structure in order to better produce materials to help advance biology, engineering, physics, and processing.
Nanostructured materials.
Nanostructured materials deal with block copolymers and assembles themselves. Campos and colleagues developed copolymers that can self-assemble into different nanoparticles. The research aspires to develop a light-weight, energy efficient devices from the polymers by understanding how to control architecture of these block copolymers.
Molecular and macromolecular systems.
Campos and colleagues also work on the development of chemistry for the next generation solar cell technologies. Specifically, they have made several important contributions to making singlet fission materials that can create triplet pairs. This material is utilized to generate parts required for organic photovoltaics.
Single-molecule electronics.
Studies involving single-molecule transport demonstrate how particular designs lead the synthesis of macromolecular materials. This also allows for chemists to adjust the functionality of a chemical. This research allows for exceptional transport technology.
Awards and honors.
Campos has received recognition for his academic work. He has received several awards throughout his post-graduate career. Such awards include the 2016 ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, 2016 C&E News Talented 12, 2016 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2015 ONR Young Investigator Award, 2015 Cottrell Scholar Award, and the 2014 NSF CAREER Award.