Statistical mechanics of polymer systems and lipid bilayer membranes

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My research focuses on the structural and dynamical properties of complex fluids, including single-chain polymer systems, Langmuir monolayers, and lipid bilayer membranes. These polymeric systems have practical applications in thin-film technology and have environmental applications, such as employing biofilms in soil remediation processes (which links well with UPEI's expertise in ecotoxicology). Additionally, this research has vital biomedical implications. For example, studies on the coil-globule and globule-solid transitions for isolated polymers in solution are essential to obtain insight into some of the key features that dominate the protein folding process. In my proposed research, I will use discontinuous molecular dynamics (DMD) simulations to examine the effects of varying different parameters, including the monomer/solvent size ratio, on both the collapse and freezing transitions for homopolymer and heteropolymer systems.