Self Assembly in Lipid and Polymeric Systems

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9876864SchickThis awards supports the theoretical study of several problems involving the self-assembly of complex materials, with particular emphasis on biological lipids and diblock copolymers. This project will focus on five topics: (1) a self-consistent model for the dependence of a lamellar-like phase and an inverted hexagonal phase of DNA and cationic lipid complexes on lipid concentrations; (2) a study of two proposed mechanisms to make non-viral DNA transfection more efficient; (3) the lamellar to hexagonal transition in a model mixture of lamellar and non-lamellar forming lipids with a model study of the intermediates between the two phases; (4) a related study of these intermediates using mixed real-reciprocal space methods; and, (5) a study of the surface phases of diblock copolymers as a function of copolymer architecture.%%%This awards supports the theoretical study of several problems involving the self-assembly of complex materials, with particular emphasis on biological lipids and diblock copolymers. The study of biological lipids has application to the study of non-viral DNA transfection-a technique for delivering DNA to cells by enclosing it in liposomes, but with variable efficiency for reasons that are not well understood. A second aspect of the project will focus on understanding how technologically important surface phases in diblock compolymers vary as a function of the copolymer architecture. ***