Exploring new frontiers of colloidal science: active colloids

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Active colloidal particles are micro/nano sized particles which are able to self-propel in fluids. Their ability to “swim” makes them interesting for new technological applications ranging from cargo particles for drug delivery to model suspensions to recreate synthetically the behaviour of biological systems. They may also display collective motion, similar to that commonly seen in nature, from swarming phenomena in bacterial colonies to flocks of birds or fish. These synthetic particles hold potential to revolutionize many common procedures applied in medicine. For example, their ability to swim against blood flow can be used to delivery therapeutics into wounds to halt hemorrhage or they can travel through the gastrointestinal tract and reach locations which are inherently difficult to hit without invasive surgeries. Furthermore, active colloids will be used as building blocks in designing new “active” composites. Thanks to the movement of their constitutive elements (the active particles), these new composites will be able to respond to external stimuli and change their mechanical, thermal and electrical properties on-the-fly.Motivated by these unique possibilities, this research program aims to (1) further develop fundamental knowledge in the field of active colloids and (2) exploit the unique properties of active colloids in generating new materials based on the combination of active colloids and complex fluids.In our research group, we will synthetize active colloidal particles, study their dynamics in complex fluids to gain insights into their behaviour in biological fluids (such as mucus, saliva or blood which are inherently viscoelastic) and finally design/develop new multi-functional composites. The results of our investigations will help us to engineer new solutions to control active colloids' direction of motion and improve their swimming speed and efficiency. Furthermore, a strong effort will be dedicated to completing the step towards drug-delivery applications that are currently within reach.Finally, the personnel involved in this research program will receive training on state-of-art technologies and they will acquire interdisciplinary scientific knowledge which will make them strong assets for the Canadian and International scientific community. This will enable them to respond to the scientific and technological needs of our society and to concretize better solutions to improve our daily quality of life.