Staff

ABSTRACT:  Carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer nanocomposites (CPNs) have recently drawn great interest for use in electronics, due to their superior properties such as tunable electrical conductivity, light weight, low cost, corrosion resistance, processability, etc. (compare with properties of currently used metals). In fact, the polymer matrix is insulative; however, incorporating a low content of conductive filler transforms it into conductive via forming a conductive network.

"Adhesion, Friction & Lubrication of Surfaces & Liquid Films and their Relation to Diverse Phenomena Such as how Geckos Climb on Walls and Ceilings, Surface Damage, and Sensing" by Professor Jacob Isrealachvili, Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, United States

An invitation to all grad students, visitors, staff and faculty in Chemical Engineering (and their families).

It would be appreciated if you could bring a salad or dessert to the barbeque.

Please RSVP here.

ABSTRACT:  The regulation of intracellular water activity is a necessary characteristic of many physiological functions in all living organisms. The high water transport rate across cell membranes is due to a type of water channel protein, aquaporin. The unique selectivity, high water transport capability, and low activation energy of aquaporins have garnered strong scientific interests with many studies concentrating on the fabrication of biomimetic membranes based on the reconstitution of aquaporins into self-assembled amphiphilic lipid or polymer bilayers.

ABSTRACT: The bottom–up approach is considered a potential alternative for low cost manufacturing of nanostructured materials [1]. It is based on the concept of self–assembly of nanostructures on a substrate, and is emerging as an alternative paradigm for traditional top down fabrication used in the semiconductor industry. We demonstrate various strategies to control nanostructure assembly (both organic and inorganic) at the nanoscale.

ABSTRACT:  Complexes formed in systems containing both positive and negative charges are of fundamental importance in a variety of materials applications.  A common method for producing polyelectrolyte complex films is to sequentially deposit oppositely charged polymers, an effective but tedious process that is not readily scalable.  A focus on this talk is on the deposition of relatively thick films directly onto conducting surfaces, using electrochemical processes to modulate the local pH.  The process is carried out on a quartz crystal microbalance, which in addition to