The
Chemical
Engineering
Department
is
hosting
a
special
graduate
seminar
about Designing
Functional
Soft
Materials
through
Tunable
Intermolecular
and
Interfacial
Interactions.
Biographical Sketch:
Wenda Wang is currently a Research Scientist at Evonik Canada Inc., where he develops polymer-based surface modification additives (Endexo®) for anti-thrombogenic medical devices. Prior to joining Evonik Canada Inc., he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta. He received his B.Sc. (specialization degree) from the Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta in 2016 and received his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta in 2021, under the supervision of Prof. Hongbo Zeng and Prof. Ravin Narain.
His research interest is focused on the interface between soft materials, colloid and interface science and biomedical engineering. The research goal is to leverage the fundamental principles of intermolecular and interfacial interactions mechanisms, polymer chemistry, material science and biology to develop novel functional soft materials with practical biomedical and other engineering applications. In particular, his current work focuses on the following areas:
- Self-healing hydrogels for wound healing, drug delivery and 3D cell culture
- Bioadhsives for hemostasis and surgical tissue sealing
- Functional tough hydrogels for wearable sensors and health monitoring devices
- Coatings and additives for anti-biofouling and anti-thrombogenic medical devices
Abstract:
Soft materials with unprecedented properties and advanced functions are of interest for a wide range of engineering applications. The material properties, functions and performance are essentially determined by the intermolecular interactions and their surface characteristics. Tunning the intermolecular and interfacial interactions to design functional soft materials with better properties and performance through novel chemistries and fabrication methods has attracted much research interests. In this talk, I will first briefly introduce some nanomechnical force measurement tools (e.g., surface forces apparatus) for studying the intermolecular and interfacial interaction mechanisms in soft materials and biological processes. The recent progress on how to use these advanced tools for quantifying different intermolecular and interfacial interactions (e.g., dynamic molecular interactions, bio-inspired adhesion) will be discussed. Some examples on how we apply the fundamental interaction mechanisms to the molecular design and synthesis of functional soft materials (e.g., self-healing hydrogels, bioadhesives and tough hydrogels) for diverse biomedical and engineering applications will be presented.