General:

My research program concerns complex fluids and the processing of these fascinating materials to create morphologies and structures that can find application in the nanotechnology, biotechnology microelectronics, and energy related materials. Whether they are liquid crystals, polymeric liquids, surfactants and vesicles, or suspensions, this important class of soft materials is characterized by intermolecular/particle forces that give rise to time and length scale distributions that are easily accessed by processing flows. Consequently, external processing forces can create a host of nano-morphologies and bulk properties that are central to their end-use applications.

Within this broad area, my laboratory takes advantage of the coupling of complex fluid microstructures with the spatial confinement that is possible by using microfluidic flow methods, to offer exquisite morphological control of soft materials. My current research projects have been interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature, involving both experiments and computations. Some ongoing projects can be found on the left.