Our current research efforts are focused
on chemical reactions in systems containing
self-assembled colloidal structures. We use
these systems to selectively control the
mesoscopic features of porous particles and
films synthesized in their presence, and as
alternate solvents for processes that
conventionally rely on organic solvents. The
role of surfactants at various biological
interfaces is another active area of
interest in our group.
The use of self-assembled structures as
"templates" has quickly become one
of the most active areas of research in both
materials and colloid areas in recent years.
Researchers have shown that surfactant
aggregates (e.g., micelles,
liquid-crystalline mesophases) can be used
as reaction templates for the synthesis of
solids with uniform pore geometries and pore
diameters in the 2-100 nm range. These
materials are expected to find broad
application in catalytic and separation
processes, where their selectivity for large
molecules can be exploited. We are
investigating how rheology (flow during
reaction) and chemical composition influence
the properties of silica particles and
films. We are able to selectively synthesize
porous materials with hexagonal, tetragonal,
lamellar, and cubic pore structures, some
with surface areas greater than 1000
m2/g. |
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Micellar catalysis has long been known to
provide an effective method of performing
reactions in aqueous media when lipophilic
(water-insoluble) reactants are involved.
Several challenging problems have made the
design of commercial processes based on
micellar catalysis quite difficult, including
attainment of sufficiently high reactant
loading. The goal of our research is to
develop processes in which aqueous surfactant
solutions are used as replacements for organic
solvents. Application of this technology to
pharmaceutical, biochemical, petroleum, and
polymer industries is important because of
increasing emphasis on reducing the
environmental impact of chemical
manufacture.
Surfactants play a key role in many
biological systems. In cell cultures,
surfactants may affect the transport of
molecules through the cell membrane, cause
local perturbations in the membrane structure
(in some cases leading to cell lysis or
fusion), and promote cell adhesion to gas
bubbles or solid surfaces. We are
collaborating with Dr. Jeff Chalmers in
several projects to gain a better
understanding of interfacial phenomena in
biological systems.
The process by which new drugs are
discovered and brought to market has changed
dramatically in recent years thanks to the
advent of highly sophisticated experimental
techniques that allow researchers to perform a
huge number of experiments quickly and
inexpensively. Recently we have begun to
investigate novel informatics methods for
gleaning useful knowledge from these extremely
large and complex datasets. This research is
being done together with Dr. Bhavik Bakshi’s
group, in collaboration with industrial and
governmental sponsors.
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