Interfacially Driven Self-Assembly in Multiphase Soft Matter Systems : Microstructural Transitions Triggered by Stimuli-Responsive Interfaces

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Understanding and using the self-assembling and stimuli-responsive properties of multiphase soft matter systems (polymers, emulsions, foams, colloids, etc.) is actually a very active field of research. Triggering stimuli such as temperature, pH, and light can be used to provoke a significant material response: alter the mechanical and rheological properties of materials, recover or liberate a particular chemical compound, for sensing devices and for applications in process engineering such as heterogeneous catalysis. The properties of heterogeneous materials and devices are often related to their interfaces. This research program aims at developing multiphase soft matter materials comprised of stimuli-responsive interfaces. We will: (1) develop methods based on optical tensiometry to measure interfacial tensions in model systems modified with passive and/or stimuli-responsive interfacial modifiers, the equilibrium and dynamic interfacial properties during and after adsorption, and the interfacial viscoelastic properties; (2) develop thermodynamic models predicting the equilibrium microstructures in systems comprised of more than three phases, or heterogeneous systems comprised of interfacial modifiers, and conduct the experiments to verify the predictions; (3) apply the acquired knowledge and know-how to the development of stimuli-responsive multiphase emulsions and foams with triggered microstructural and interfacial transitions for applications in the fields of recovery/delivery of chemicals (such as oil recovery and drug release), and food science. This program will allow the training of highly qualified personnel in the fields of surface and interfacial soft matter science and engineering. It will benefit several active research areas in chemical engineering and materials science: the development of high-performance composite materials, materials for biomedical and tissue engineering, multiphase concentrated systems for heterogeneous catalysis applications, food science, etc. We expect that our work will lead to collaborations with fellow colleagues and industrial partners.