Physics & Astronomy seminar April 1
Friday, April 1 | 3-3:50 p.m. | Hagen 325
MSUM Physics & Astronomy seminar series presents “Soft, Squishy and Long Molecules at Interfaces” by Damith Rosario, a Ph.D. candidate in Materials Science and Nanotechnology at NDSU.
A polymer is a long molecule consisting of covalently bonded small repeating molecules which are called monomers. The two words polymer and monomer are derived from the ancient Greek words monos- (one), polus- (many) and -meros (part). Polymer physics have been a revolutionary field since the discovery of vulcanization of natural rubber. Polymers are widely used in everyday life and almost in every industry including food, medical, petroleum, coatings, automobile, etc. In recent years, the medical industry has shown lots of interest in using polymers as a way of delivering drugs. Polymers can be used to synthesize polymersomes, analogous to liposomes which is a natural encapsulation system used to transport cargo inside our bodies. However, the technology remains far from advancing in part due to the limited understanding of polymers at these interfaces. It is important to understand the fundamental physics of these materials and systems. We use Polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-oxide) diblock copolymer coated oil droplets to study its static and dynamic properties. Specifically we measure surface tensions, elastic moduli and study a fluid flow through a polymer brush. We utilize a sessile drop technique coupled with laser scanning confocal microscopy to study these properties.