Theory for structure and dynamics of self-assembled soft materials

我的团队研究软材料中结构和动力学之间的相互作用，重点是聚合物和生物材料。我们使用复杂的分析方法和高性能计算的组合来解决这个多学科环境中的问题。软材料和生物材料中的结构-动力学关系是一个令人兴奋和丰富的理论和实验研究课题，其中有一系列具有挑战性的问题。例如，世界范围内正在进行一项正在进行的努力，研究嵌段共聚物作为纳米光刻的结构模板，以及用于生产金属纳米点和纳米线的有序阵列。这些模板有望将微电子电路缩小到10纳米级，低于传统光刻技术所能达到的水平。在这种应用中，当处理这些材料时，了解结构自组装需要多长时间是很重要的。我的第一个研究主题是解决这样的问题：这种微观结构和动力学之间的关系是什么？形成一个特定结构的动力路径和障碍是什么？我的第二个主题领域是：我们如何制定一个非平衡理论来回答这些问题？该提案的其余部分侧重于自组装、动力学和模式形成在生物学中的作用，具体目的是发展对涉及肽自组装的抗菌策略的基本理解。通过发展和扩展非平衡统计力学的方法，在定量的水平上理解软材料的动力学是我的长期目标。这一提议既涉及新计算技术的开发，也涉及对新型抗菌剂、纳米平版印刷模板和电泳仪的物理理解。

My group investigates the interplay between structure and dynamics in soft materials, with a focus on polymeric and biological materials. We use a combination of sophisticated analytical methods and high-performance computing to tackle problems in this multidisciplinary environment. The structure-dynamics relationship in soft and biological materials is an exciting and rich topic for theoretical and experimental study, with a diverse set of challenging problems. For example, there is an ongoing, world-wide effort to investigate block copolymers as structural templates for nanolithography, and for the production of ordered arrays of metallic nano-dots and nano-wires. These templates hold the promise of shrinking microelectronic circuits to the 10 nm scale, below that accessible to traditional photolithography. In such applications, when processing these materials it is important to understand how long it takes structures to self-assemble. My first research topic addresses the questions: What is the relation between this microstructure and the dynamics? What are the kinetic pathways for, and barriers to, the formation of a given structure? My second topical area asks: How do we formulate a non-equilibrium theory to answer these questions? The remainder of the proposal focuses on the role of self-assembly, dynamics and pattern formation in biology, with a specific aim to develop a fundamental understanding of antimicrobial strategies that involve peptide self-assembly. Understanding the dynamics of soft materials at a quantitative level through the development and extension of the methods of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics is my long-term goal. This proposal involves both the development of new computational techniques and the physical understanding of novel antimicrobial agents, nano-lithographic templates and electrophoretic devices.