Headshot of Dr.Jonathan Raybin

Dr. Jonathan Raybin

He/Him
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Curriculum Vitae

  • Profile

    Jon Raybin is an incoming assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Richmond. His research focuses on soft materials, including polymers, emulsions, colloids, gels, and other materials that are easily deformed but structurally complex. He is interested in how structural heterogeneity and microscopic organization shape material properties.

    The Raybin Lab combines direct imaging, image analysis, surface measurements, scattering, and mechanical testing, often by building or adapting instruments to make challenging material processes observable. Current research interests include studying how forces transmit through heterogeneous polymer networks, tracking polymer swelling in real time, and visualizing ionic-liquid emulsions by electron microscopy.

    A central goal of Raybin’s research program is to make complex material behavior observable and measurable to quantitatively connect structure, dynamics, and function. Undergraduate researchers in the lab will contribute to instrument design, experimental development, and data analysis while developing independence as scientists and learning to formulate and pursue their own research questions.

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    • Grants and Fellowships

      NRC Fellowship, 2024

      Charles H. Viol Fellowship, 2016

    • Presentations

      Selected Presentations

      High-rate expansion, delamination, and fracture of polymer membranes. Adhesion Society Annual Meeting, Savannah, GA, 2026.

      Impulsive Deformation of Polymer Membranes. Soft Condensed Matter Gordon Research Seminar, New London, NH, 2025.

      High-Rate Fracture Dynamics of Polymer Glasses through Laser Ablation. Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, 2024.

      Electron-beam controlled dynamics of interfacial colloidal particles at fluid interfaces. ACS Colloid and Surface Science Symposium, Raleigh, NC, 2023.

      Phase behavior of colloidal monolayers at the interface of an ionic liquid droplet with tunably perturbative scanning electron microscopy. Colloidal, Macromolecular and Polyelectrolyte Solutions Gordon Research Seminar, Ventura, CA, 2022.

      Thermodynamics and Phase Behavior of Colloidal Nanoparticles. Guest Lecture, Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Reed College, Portland, OR, 2022.

      Video-rate AFM imaging of block copolymer patterns under environmental control. European Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, Strasbourg, France, 2018.

    • Professional Experience

      Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California Berkeley (2019-2024)

      NRC Fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology (2024-2026)

  • Publications
    Journal Articles

    Raybin, J. G.; Evans, K. M.; Chan, E. P. (2026). Mechanical compliance enhances the impulsive energy absorption of glassy polymer films. PNAS, 123(10). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2514520123

    Tanner, C. P. N., et al. (2025). Enhancing Nanocrystal Superlattice Self-Assembly near a Metastable Liquid Binodal. Nature Physics, 21, 1594–1602. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02996-5

    Raybin, J. G.; Dunsworth, E. J.; Guo, V.; Ginsberg, N. S. (2024). Reversible Electron-Beam Patterning of Colloidal Nanoparticles at Fluid Interfaces. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16(49), 68611–68620. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c14882

    Murphy, J. G.; Raybin, J. G.; Sibener, S. J. (2024). Mapping the Dynamics of Fluctuations and Defects in Confined Block Copolymer Films with High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy. Macromolecules, 57(15), 7270–7279. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00638
    *Equal contribution

    Raybin, J. G., et al. (2023). Nonadditive Interactions Unlock Small-Particle Mobility in Binary Colloidal Monolayers. ACS Nano, 17(9), 8303–8314. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c12668

    Tan, J. A., et al. (2023). Multimodal Characterization of Crystal Structure and Formation in Rubrene Thin Films Reveals Erasure of Orientational Discontinuities. Advanced Functional Materials, 33(13), 2207867. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202207867

    Murphy, J. G.; Raybin, J. G.; Ansay, G. E.; Sibener, S. J. (2023). Spatiotemporal Mapping of Hole Nucleation and Growth during Block Copolymer Terracing with High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy. ACS Nano, 17(6), 5644–5652. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c11672

    Murphy, J. G.; Raybin, J. G.; Sibener, S. J. (2022). Correlating polymer structure, dynamics, and function with atomic force microscopy. Journal of Polymer Science, 60(7), 1042–1058. https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.20210321
    *Equal contribution

    Bischak, C. G.; Raybin, J. G.; Kruppe, J. W.; Ginsberg, N. S. (2020). Charging-driven coarsening and melting of a colloidal nanoparticle monolayer at an ionic liquid–vacuum interface. Soft Matter, 16(41), 9578–9589. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SM01395A
    *Equal contribution

    Wai, R. B., et al. (2020). Resolving Enhanced Mn2+ Luminescence near the Surface of CsPbCl3 with Time-Resolved Cathodoluminescence Imaging. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 11(7), 2624–2629. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00574

    Raybin, J. G.; Sibener, S. J. (2019). In Situ Visualization of Solvent Swelling Dynamics in Block Copolymer Films with Atomic Force Microscopy. Macromolecules, 52(15), 5985–5994. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b00784

    Raybin, J. G.; Murphy, J. G.; Dolejsi, M.; Sibener, S. J. (2019). Direct Imaging of Interfacial Fluctuations in Confined Block Copolymer with in Situ Slow-Scan-Disabled Atomic Force Microscopy. ACS Nano, 13(10), 11741–11752. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b05720

    Raybin, J. G.; Ren, J.; Chen, X.; Gronheid, R.; Nealey, P. F.; Sibener, S. J. (2017). Real-Time Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging of Block Copolymer Directed Self Assembly. Nano Letters, 17(12), 7717–7723. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03881

    Dragisich, V.; Keller, V.; Zhao, M.; Raybin, J. G.; Sibener, S. J. (2016). Development of an Advanced Training Course for Teachers and Researchers in Chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(7), 1211–1216. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00578

    Tong, Q.; Malachosky, E. W.; Raybin, J. G.; Guyot-Sionnest, P.; Sibener, S. J. (2014). End-to-End Alignment of Gold Nanorods on Topographically Enhanced, Cylinder Forming Diblock Copolymer Templates and Their Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Properties. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 118(33), 19259–19265. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp507442g