I am interested in understanding the mechanical organization and functionality of the cell interface, as a way to create functional colloids whose interface is mechanically stable, self-healing, malleable and responsive to environmental factors. My recent research has been focused on creating composite lipogel interfaces that mimic the confinement of the cell membrane to the active gel- like cytoskeleton. The main tools used in my lab are optical microscopy for characterization, microfluidics for creating and testing the biomimetic systems, and mechanical and electric micromanipulation tools.
My interests lie in the field of synthetic polymer chemistry and specifically the synthesis of polymers which are well controlled in terms of molecular weight, composition, functionality and chain architecture. We also collaborate extensively in studies which seek to understand the correlation between structure and properties. We exploit a variety of living/controlled polymerization mechanisms to achieve that aim but have particular interest in the use and development of living anionic polymerization.
We collaborate widely with industry and in terms of applications are currently focussed of rubber and elastomers
I am a theoretical soft matter physicist working at the interface of soft-matter and Biophysics. I use a combination of analytical and numerical techniques in understanding the behaviour of complex adaptive matter. Some of my research interests include
- theoretical modeling of optical manipulation of droplet shapes using laser beams
- single chain and self-assembly of dressed polymer architectures
- mechanical shaping of soft materials via elasto-plastic deformation
- understanding defect phases and flow behaviour of liquid crystals
- understanding compaction and transport of soft structures at the nanoscale
- diffusion and signalling through skin and tissues
Flow of concentrated suspensions, shear thickening, granulation, dispersing powders in liquids, bacteria as colloids, dispersing bacteria in emulsions, motile bacteria in polymer solutions, imaging the flow of complex fluids, colloid-polymer mixtures, shelf life of colloidal gels
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