Fundamental theoretical and experimental studies of soft matter and their composites

本研究旨在了解和控制在含有纳米颗粒、聚合物和磷脂的软材料中产生复杂反应的物理相互作用。该研究结合了最先进的实验工具，包括激光全息微流变学和电声学，以及有益于加拿大能源和医疗保健企业的理论。对加拿大的潜在好处是提高能源效率（例如，通过优化用于石油化工加工中气体分离的纳米复合膜）和改善人类健康（例如，通过了解用于治疗癌症和呼吸系统疾病的生物膜中的NP转运，以及开发用于临床诊断和植入物的软材料）。知识将从四个子主题中获得：首先，我们将寻求对生物膜中纳米颗粒动力学的基本理解，特别是生物膜粘性如何影响纳米颗粒运输。这将有助于合成和临床领域的研究人员优化纳米颗粒的大小和化学性质，用于癌症和呼吸系统疾病的治疗以及肿瘤检测。其次，我们将对水凝胶上和水凝胶内的磷脂双层膜进行新的研究。我们的目标是将膜内蛋白质和聚合物的运动与水凝胶的化学性质、渗透性和柔软性联系起来。这项研究可能会导致新的控释药物递送疗法和传感器。第三，我们将用纳米粒子修饰水凝胶，使其在受到电场作用时具有改变形状的能力。在专门的医学诊断应用中，这种材料的功能可能类似于肌肉组织。最后，我们将阐明纳米颗粒如何影响纳米复合材料中聚合物链的填充，并建立一个选择纳米颗粒大小和聚合物链刚度的标准，以优化石油化工行业节能气体分离的膜渗透率和选择性。

This research seeks to understand and control the physical interactions that produce complex responses in soft materials containing nanoparticles, polymers, and phospholipids. The research combines state-of-the-art experimental tools---including laser holographic microrheology and electroacoustics---and theory to benefit the Canadian energy and healthcare enterprises. The potential benefits for Canada are improved energy efficiency (e.g., by optimizing nanocomposite membranes for gas separations in petrochemical processing) and improved human health (e.g., by understanding NP transport in biofilms for treating cancer and respiratory disease, and developing soft materials for clinical diagnostics and implants). Knowledge will be gained from four sub-themes: In the first, we will seek a fundamental understanding of nanoparticle dynamics in biofilms, particularly how biofilm stickiness affects nanoparticle transport. This will help researchers in synthetic and clinical areas optimize nanoparticle size and chemistry for cancer and respiratory disease therapeutics and tumor detection. In the second, we will undertake novel studies of phospholipid bilayer membranes supported on and within hydrogels. Our goal is to correlate the motion of membrane-embedded proteins and polymers to the hydrogel chemistry, permeability, and softness. This research may lead to new controlled release drug-delivery therapeutics and sensors. In the third, we will decorate hydrogels with nanoparticles to impart an ability to change shape when subjected to an electric field. Such materials might function similarly to muscle tissue in specialized medical diagnostic applications. Finally, we will elucidate how nanoparticles influence polymer-chain packing in nanocomposites, and establish a criterion for selecting nanoparticle size and polymer chain stiffness to optimize membrane permeability and selectivity for energy-efficient gas separations in the petrochemicals industry.