Faculty Directory
Laurence Marks

Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering

Contact

2220 Campus Drive
Cook Hall 2036
Evanston, IL 60208

Email Laurence Marks

Website

The Marks Research Group

Wikipedia Profile

Google Scholar Profile

Departments

Materials Science and Engineering

Affiliations

PhD Program in Applied Physics

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Education

Ph.D. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England

Research student, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, England

B.A. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England


Research Interests

Professor Laurence D. Marks, Ph.D. is an Emeritus Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. His most highly cited work is the discovery of a type of nanoparticle which has become known as the Marks Decahedron. He pioneered the use of HREM to study the structure of nanoparticles, the use of direct methods for surfaces with either electron or x-ray diffraction data, in-situ methods for tribology inside electron microscopes, fast methods of obtaining optical and structural measurements from single nanoparticles and most recently a new class of fixed-point algorithms for DFT calculations. His research interests include transmission electron microscopy, density functional theory methods, direct methods for inversion of diffraction data, surface science particularly of oxides, tribology and hip replacements as well as nanoparticle structure, growth and corrosion, with a recent addition of flexoelectricity and triboelectricity. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 refereed publications.

His most recent work has focused upon understanding the mysteries of triboelectricity, the charge transfer that leads to static electricity in everything from petting a cat to lightning in storms.



Significant Recognition

  • Fulbright Fellow, Curtin University, 2024
  • Visiting Fellow, Linacre College, Oxford, 2019
  • ICSOS Surface Structure Prize, 2017
  • Fellow, Microscopy Society of America, 2017
  • Astor Visiting Lecturer, University of Oxford, 2015
  • Warren Award of the American Crystallographic Association, 2015
  • Fellow, American Physical Society, 2002
  • Burton Medal, Electron Microscopy Society of America, 1989
  • Sloan Foundation Fellowship, 1987
  • Scholarship, Kings College, University of Cambridge, 1976

Selected Publications

  1. Olson, K.P. and L.D. Marks, Is triboelectricity confusing, confused or complex? Rep Prog Phys, 2025. 88(10) http://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/ae08cb.
  2. Marks, L.D. and K.P. Olson, Flexoelectricity, Triboelectricity, and Free Interfacial Charges. Small, 2025. 21(28): p. e2310546 http://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202310546.
  3. Olson, K.P. and L.D. Marks, What Puts the "Tribo" in Triboelectricity? Nano Lett, 2024. 24(39): p. 12299-12306 http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03656.
  4. Olson, K.P. and L.D. Marks, A quantitative model of triboelectric charge transfer. Friction, 2024. 13(2): p. 9440937 http://doi.org/10.26599/frict.2025.9440937.
  5. Olson, K.P. and L.D. Marks, Asperity shape in flexoelectric/triboelectric contacts. Nano Energy, 2024. 119: p. 109036 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.109036.
  6. Olson, K.P., C.A. Mizzi, and L.D. Marks, Band Bending and Ratcheting Explain Triboelectricity in a Flexoelectric Contact Diode. Nano Lett, 2022. 22(10): p. 3914-3921 http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00107.
  7. Mizzi, C.A. and L.D. Marks, When Flexoelectricity Drives Triboelectricity. Nano Lett, 2022. 22(10): p. 3939-3945 http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00240.
  8. Mizzi, C.A., B. Guo, and L.D. Marks, Experimental determination of flexoelectric coefficients in SrTiO3, KTaO3, TiO2, and YAlO3 single crystals. Physical Review Materials, 2022. 6(5): p. 055005 http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.6.055005.
  9. Mizzi, C.A. and L.D. Marks, The role of surfaces in flexoelectricity. Journal of Applied Physics, 2021. 129(22): p. 224102 http://doi.org/10.1063/5.0048920.
  10. Mizzi, C.A., A.Y.W. Lin, and L.D. Marks, Does Flexoelectricity Drive Triboelectricity? Phys Rev Lett, 2019. 123(11): p. 116103 http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.116103.