Speaker: Jacinta Conrad, Frank M Tiller Professor, University of Houston
Host: Itamar Kolvin
Title: Transport of nanoparticles and viruses through crowded, complex fluids
Abstract:
Transport of nanoparticles affects applications ranging from targeted drug delivery to point-of-care diagnostics to processing of nanocomposite materials. In each of these applications, nanoparticles must be transported through a complex fluid to reach the desired target, whether a cancerous tumor, a membrane, or a polymer melt. For large particles, the surrounding medium is effectively homogeneous across the surface of the particle, so that the transport properties can be directly related to the bulk fluid properties. For nanoparticles, however, the particle size is comparable to the length scales of heterogeneities in the fluid so that the particle dynamics decouple from bulk properties and are poorly understood. Here, we combine microscopy and scattering experiments with molecular simulation to investigate how nanoparticles transport through polymer solutions, which serve as a tunable model of viscoelastic liquids, and examine how the dynamics of the nanoparticles are coupled to relaxations of the surrounding liquid. I will focus on our recent work probing transport of viruses through solutions of synthetic and natural charged polymers, where the macromolecular structure differs from that of neutral polymers due to the presence of charges along the polymer backbone. The physics elucidated in these studies will grant better control over the transport and dispersion of nanoparticles through complex, heterogeneous materials.
Event Details
Date/Time:
-
Date:Tuesday, September 24, 2024 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Location:
Howey, School of Physics - Room N201/N202
