Hendrik Heinz

  • Professor
  • CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
  • MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROGRAM
Address

Office: JSCBB C126
Mailbox: 596 UCB

Education

  • PhD in materials science and engineering, ETH Zurich (2003)
  • MSc (Diploma) in chemistry, ETH Zurich (2000)
  • BSc (Prediploma) in chemistry, University of Heidelberg (1997)

Awards and Honors

  • 2024 IAAM Scientist Medal
  • 2023 NASA Group Achievement Award (US-COMP Institute)
  • 2022 Guest Professor at the University of Paris Cite
  • 2022 Amazon Scholar
  • 2020 Fellow of the International Association for Advanced Materials (IAAM)
  • 2020 Guest Professor at University of Paris
  • 2018 Outstanding Mentor Award (CU Office of Postdoctoral Affairs)
  • 2018 National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award
  • 2016 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK)
  • 2016 Sandmeyer Award (Swiss Chemical Society)
  • 2014 Guest Professor at International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), Tsukuba, Japan
  • 2013 Max Hey Medal (Mineralogical Society of UK and Ireland)
  • 2011 George Brown Lectureship (Mineralogical Society, at Euroclay 2011)
  • 2011 Guest Professor at ETH Zurich (2011)
  • 2010 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
  • 2009 Giovanni Novelli Prize (Italian Clay Group, at 14th Int. Clay Conf.)
  • 2006 HP Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (ACS, COMP Division)
  • 2005 Member of “AFOSR Star Team”
  • 2001-2003 Graduate Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation
  • 1995-2000 Undergraduate Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation
  • 1994 Silver Medal, International Chemistry Olympiad

Research Interests

  • Computer simulation of inorganic-(bio)organic interfaces and biomineralization
  • Design of catalysts and functional materials
  • Development of force fields for the prediction of multiphase material properties
  • Hierarchical simulation of building materials and multiscale mechanics
  • Structure-property relationships in polymer nanocomposites

Selected Publications

“Prediction of Carbon Nanostructure Mechanical Properties and the Role of Defects Using Machine Learning,“ Winetrout, J. J.;  Li, Z.;  Zhao, Q.;  Gaber, L.;  Unnikrishnan, V. U.;  Varshney, V.;  Xu, Y.;  Wang, Y.; Heinz, H. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2025, 122, e2415068122. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415068122.
 
“Surface Molecular Pump Enables Ultrahigh Catalyst Activity.” Huang, J.; Peng, B.; Zhu, C. ; Xu, M.; Liu, Z.; Duan, X.; Heinz, H.; Huang, Y. Sci. Adv. 2024, 10, ado3942. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado3942.
 
"Implementing Reactivity in Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Harmonic Force Fields,“ Winetrout, J. J.; Kanhaiya, K.; Sachdeva, G.; Pandey, R.; Damirchi, B.; Van Duin, A.; Odegard, G. M.; Heinz, H., Nat. Comm. 2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50793-0.
 
“Atomic-Scale Identification of the Active Sites of Nanocatalysts,” Yang, Y.; Zhou, J.; Zhao, Z.; Sun, G.; Ophus, C.; Moniri, S.; Yang, Y.; Wei, Z.; Yuan, Y.; Zhu, C.; Jia, Q.; Heinz, H.; Ciston, J.; Sautet, P.; Ercius, P.; Huang, Y.; Miao, J.
Nat. Catal. 2024, 7, 796-806. DOI: 10.1038/s41929-024-01175-8
 
“Accurate Force Fields for Atomistic Simulations of Oxides, Hydroxides, and Organic Hybrid Materials up to the Micrometer Scale,” Kanhaiya, K.;  Nathanson, M.;  in ’t Veld, P. J.;  Zhu, C.;  Nikiforov, I.;  Tadmor, E. B.;  Choi, Y. K.;  Im, W.;  Mishra, R. K.; Heinz, H., J. Chem. Theor. Comput. 2023, 19, 8293-8322. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00750
 
"Voltage Modulated Untwist Deformations and Multispectral Optical Effects from Ion Intercalation into Chiral Ceramic Nanoparticles," Shao, X.; Zhu, C.; Kumar, P.; Wang, Y.; Lu, J.; Cha, M., Yao, L.; Cao, Y.; Mao, X.; Heinz, H., Kotov, N. A. Adv. Mater. 2023, 35, 2370116. DOI: 10.1002/adma.202206956
 
"Hierarchically Structured Bioinspired Nanocomposites," Nepal, D.;  Kang, S.;  Adstedt, K. M.;  Kanhaiya, K.;  Bockstaller, M. R.;  Brinson, L. C.;  Buehler, M. J.;  Coveney, P. V.; Dayal, K.;  El-Awady, J. A.;  Henderson, L. C.;  Kaplan, D. L.;  Keten, S.;  Kotov, N. A.;  Schatz, G. C.;  Vignolini, S.; Vollrath, F.;  Wang, Y.;  Yacobson, B. I.;  Tsukruk, V. V.; Heinz, H. Nat. Mater. 2023, 22, 18-35. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01384-1.
 
“Patterning of Self-Assembled Monolayers of Amphiphilic Multisegment Ligands on Nanoparticles and Design Parameters for Protein Interactions,” Hoff, S. E.; Di Silvio, D.; Moya, S. E.; Ziolo, R. F.; Heinz, H.
ACS Nano 2022, 16, 8766-8783. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c08695
 
“CHARMM-GUI Nanomaterial Modeler for Modeling and Simulation of Nanomaterial Systems," Choi, Y. K.; Kern, N. R.; Kim, S.; Kanhaiya, K.; Afshar, Y.; Jeon, S. H.; Jo, S.; Brooks, B. R.; Lee, J.; Tadmor, E. B.; Heinz, H.; Im, W., J. Chem. Theor. Comput. 2022, 18, 479-493. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00996

“Direct Correlation of Oxygen Adsorption on Platinum Electrolyte Interfaces with the Activity in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction," Wang, S.; Zhu, E.; Huang, Y.; Heinz, H., Sci. Adv. 2021, 7, eabb1435. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb1435

“Working Mechanisms and Design Principles of Comb-like Polycarboxylate Ether Superplasticizers in Cement Hydration: Quantitative Insights for a Series of Well-Defined Copolymers," Javadi, A.; Jamil, T.; Abouzari-Lotf, E.; Soucek, M. D.; Heinz, H., ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 8354-8371. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08566 (IF 7.6) (Cover Art, June 28, https://pubs.acs.org/toc/ascecg/9/25)

“Understanding Surface Reactivity of Ligand-Protected Metal Nanoparticles for Biomass Upgrading”
Mark, L. O.; Zhu, C.; Medlin, J. W.; Heinz, H., ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 5462-5474. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b04772 (Journal Cover)

“Mechanism of Molecular Interaction of Acrylate-Polyethylene Glycol Acrylate Copolymers with Calcium Silicate Hydrate Surfaces, Jamil, T.; Javadi, A.; Heinz, H., Green Chem. 2020, 22, 1577-1593. DOI: 10.1039/C9GC03287H (Journal Cover)

“Polyacrylonitrile Interactions with Carbon Nanotubes in Solution: Conformations and Binding as a Function of Solvent, Temperature, and Concentration," Pramanik, C.; Jamil, T.; Gissinger, J. R.; Guittet, D.; Arias-Monje, P. J.; Kumar, S.; Heinz, H., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1905247. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201905247

“Observing Crystal Nucleation in Four Dimensions using Atomic Electron Tomography”
Zhou, J.; Yang, Y.; Yang, Y.; Kim, D. S.; Yuan, A.; Tian, X.; Ophus, C.; Sun, F.; Schmid, A. K.; Nathanson, M.; Heinz, H.; An, Q.; Zeng, H.; Ercius, P.; Miao, J., Nature 2019, 570, 500-503. DOI: doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1317-x

“Long-Range Hierarchical Nanocrystal Assembly Driven by Molecular Structural Transformation”
Zhu, E.; Wang, S.; Yan, X.; Sobani, M.; Ruan, L.; Wang, C.; Liu, Y.; Duan, X.; Heinz, H.; Huang, Y., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 1498-1505. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b08023 (Journal Cover)

“Atomic-Scale Structure and Stress Release Mechanism in Core-Shell Nanoparticles,” Nathanson, M.; Kanhaiya, K.; Pryor, Jr., A.; Miao, J.; Heinz, H., ACS Nano 2018, 12, 12296-12304. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b06118

“Building Two-Dimensional Materials One Row at a Time: Avoiding the Nucleation Barrier," Chen, J.; Zhu, E.; Liu, J.; Zhang, S.; Lin, Z.; Duan, X.; Heinz, H.; Huang, Y.; De Yoreo, J. J. Science 2018, 362, 1135-1139. DOI: 10.1126/science.aau4146

“Understanding Chemical Bonding in Alloys and the Representation in Atomistic Simulations," Liu, J.; Tennessen, E.; Miao, J.; Huang, Y.; Rondinelli, J. M.; Heinz, H., J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 14996-15009. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b01891

“Instantaneous Insight into Induced Charges at Metal Surfaces, Aqueous, and Biological Interfaces Using a Polarizable Lennard-Jones Potential," Lorenzo Geada, I.; Ramezani-Dakhel, H.; Jamil, T., Sulpizi, M.; Heinz, H.
Nat. Comm. 2018, 9, 716. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03137-8

“Carbon Nanotube Dispersion in Solvents and Polymer Solutions: Mechanisms, Assembly, and Preferences”
Pramanik, C.; Gissinger, J. R.; Kumar, S.; Heinz, H., ACS Nano 2017, 11, 12805-12816. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b07684

“CEMFF: A Force Field Database for Cementitious Materials Including Validations, Applications and Opportunities”
Mishra, R. K.; Mohamed, A. K.; Geissbuhler, D.; Manzano, H.; Jamil, T.; Shahsavari, R.; Kalinichev, A. G.; Galmarini, S.; Tao, L.; Heinz, H.; Pellenq, R.; van Duin, A. C. T.; Parker, S. C.; Flatt, R.; Bowen, P., Cem. Conr. Res. 2017, 102, 68-89. DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconres.2017.09.003

“Simulations of Inorganic-Bioorganic Interfaces and Comparisons to Experiment to Discover New Materials: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities, "Heinz, H.; Ramezani-Dakhel, H., Chem. Soc. Rev. 2016, 45, 412-448. DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00890E

”Three-Dimensional Positions of Individual Atoms in Materials Revealed by Electron Tomography,” Xu, R.; Chen, C. C.; Wu, L.; Scott, M. C.; Theis, W.; Ophus, C.; Bartels, M.; Yang, Y.; Ramezani-Dakhel, H.; Sawaya, M. R.; Heinz, H.; Marks, L. D.; Ercius, P.; Miao, J., Nat. Mater. 2015, 14, 1099-1103. DOI: 10.1038/nmat4426

“Elucidation of Peptide-Directed Palladium Surface Structure for Biologically-Tunable Nanocatalysts,” Bedford, N. M.; Ramezani-Dakhel, H.; Slocik, J. M.; Briggs, B. D.; Ren, Y.; Frenkel, A. I.; Petkov, V.; Heinz, H.; Naik, R. R.; Knecht, M. R., ACS Nano 2015, 9, 5082-5092. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b00168. Cover Art (May).

“Molecular Mechanism of Specific Recognition of Cubic Pt Nanocrystals by Peptides and of the Concentration-Dependent Formation from Seed Crystals," Ramezani-Dakhel, H.; Ruan, L.; Huang, Y.; Heinz, H., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 1374-1384. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201404136

“Thermodynamically Consistent Force Fields and Molecular Models for the Assembly of Inorganic, Organic, and Biological Hybrid Nanostructures: The INTERFACE Force Field," Heinz, H.; Lin, T. Z.; Mishra, R. K.; Emami, F. S.
Langmuir 2013, 29, 1754-1765. Invited Feature Article and Cover Art (Feb 12). DOI: 10.1021/la3038846

“Accurate Simulation of Surfaces and Interfaces of FCC Metals Using 12-6 and 9-6 Lennard-Jones Potentials,”
Heinz, H.; Vaia, R. A.; Farmer, B. L.; Naik, R. R., J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112, 17281­­-17290. DOI: 10.1021/jp801931d

"Atomic Charges for Classical Simulations of Polar Systems," Heinz, H.; Suter, U. W. J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 18341-18352. DOI: 10.1021/jp048142t