Structured emulsion design and processing
Droplets exhibit unique behavior when driven to the nanoscale, i.e., when the range of colloidal interactions between droplets approaches their size. We have designed novel nanoemulsions to better understand this emergent behavior, and to harness it for the engineering of new materials with novel properties. Ongoing projects in this area include:
- Designing nanoemulsions with dynamically-tunable colloidal interactions
- Creation of complex nanodroplets for nanoparticle synthesis
- Assembly of nanodroplets into hierarchically porous structures
Biomolecular and colloidal assembly
Nanotechnology has opened up entirely new avenues for interfacing materials with biological systems. Significant advances in this area have been made by focusing on how material chemistry controls function and interactions. By contrast, our approach is to understand how mesoscale structure and properties can be used to impart new or enhanced understanding of biological systems. Examples include:
- Novel approaches to investigating protein assembly for biomaterial design.
- Probing non-classical effects in nanoscale nucleation and aggregation processes for biomineralization control.