Interfacial Thermodynamics and Transport

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The proposed research will leverage my internationally recognized track record in developing and applying a deep mastery of many branches of thermodynamics to provide theoretical frameworks, equations and insight needed to understand, predict, design, and control complex multicomponent, multiphase systems and processes. Multicomponent, multiphase systems (drops, bubbles, emulsions, foams, aerosols, and multiphase fluids in solid porous media) and processes (wetting, melting/solidification, evaporation/condensation) that will be addressed by this research occur in almost every manufacturing, natural resources, and energy industry; are the basis for novel surface, microfluidic and nano-technologies; are central to complex processes in the environment; and are the focus of much of modern science. While 135-year old Gibbsian surface thermodynamics is the underlying science describing multicomponent high-surface-area fluids, the most thermodynamically correct work has been done only for relatively uncomplicated systems. The proposed research will address many currently outstanding problems under three broad objectives: 1) Provide equilibrium thermodynamics for a wide range of industrially, scientifically and environmentally important multiphase systems dominated by curvature and other interfacial phenomena. 2) Develop nonequilibrium thermodynamics approaches to describe mass transfer at interfaces in nonideal, multicomponent systems and solve the coupled equations of interfacial transport, adjoining-bulk-phase transport, and heat transport for various geometries and experimental circumstances. 3) Compare theoretical predictions with fundamental experiments, done both in our group and in other leading experimental laboratories, for validation and theory refinement. The long-term impact of this work will be to advance modern thermodynamics to the point of incorporation of curved surface phenomena and evaporation/condensation rates into the toolbox of future engineers and into commercial thermodynamic simulators. I strive for high quality research, applying rigorous thermodynamics and creative approaches to solve important challenging problems, providing fundamental insight that applies across applications and opens up new fields of research. My research has been recognized by six national awards, invitations to serve on international editorial boards, and invitations to speak at top conferences and universities. An important mission of my Discovery Grant program is to train the world's top thermodynamicists. I attract outstanding Canadian and international graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (HQP) and give them the comprehensive training and high-quality supervision that they deserve, enabling them to reach their full potential. My HQP have had outstanding success in academia, government and industry.