University COVID-19 update

Visit the University's Coronavirus Information website for more information.

The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology main office (QNC 3606) is closed until further notice. If you are a student trying to pick up or return a lab/office key, please email asomel@uwaterloo.ca for assistance. All other inquires can be directed to win-office@uwaterloo.ca. For emergencies, contact Campus Police.

Nasser M. Abukhdeir

Professor, Chemical Engineering

Research interests: self-assembly modeling and simulation of high-order functional materials (liquid crystals, block copolymers)

Biography

Professor Abukhdeir's research group focuses on fundamental properties and applications of nano-structured liquid crystalline (LC) materials. LCs have industrial significance in display technology, high performance materials, and the broad area of functional materials. Smectic LC phases exhibit substantially more complex static and dynamic properties compared to the types of LC phases used in current devices (nematics). Abukhdeir has made significant past contributions to the fundamental understanding of high-order smectic LCs through simulation-based research.

Education

PhD, Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 2010
MChE, Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002
BS, Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002
BS, Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002

Research

The general focus of my research is on the development of new functional materials and applications that are produced through the control of nano-scale self-assembly processes. Specific materials of interest include high-order (smectic) liquid crystals (LCs), LC/polymer mixtures, LC polymers, and block copolymers. The unifying theme of these materials is that they exhibit some degree of crystallinity but are still able to flow.

My approach in studying these systems involves simulation of models which capture the multi-scale phenomena inherent of self-assembly. This requires the development, implementation, and use of cutting-edge computational methods for simulation, post-processing, and visualization. This approach involves close coupling to experimental observations and relevant applications through experimentally-verifiable simulations and collaborations.

Research Interests

External Field-Driven Dynamics of Liquid Crystal Domains
Material Transformations of Crystalline and Liquid Crystal Materials
Hydrodynamics of Complex Fluids and Multiphase Flows
Computational Methods in Engineering

Publications

Recent publications include:

N.M. Abukhdeir. Phase Transition and Defect Dynamics in Liquid Crystalline Phases (2016) Liquid Crystals, submitted (pre-print) Special Issue: 30th Anniversary Dedicated to the Next Generation of Liquid Crystals Researchers

N.M. Abukhdeir. Automated quantification of self-assembled and nanostructured surfaces through image processing (2016) Materials Research Express, submitted (pre-print) Special Issue: Emerging Investigators in Materials Science
J. Dong, I.A. Goldthorpe, N.M. Abukhdeir. Automated quantification of one-dimensional nanostructure alignment on surfaces (2016) Nanotechnology, revision submitted (pre-print)
A. Mowla, T. Treeratanaphitak, Budman, H., N.M. Abukhdeir, M.A. & Ioannidis. Meta-Analysis of Empirical Correlations for Volume-averaged Gas Hold-up in Three-Phase Fluidized Beds (2015) Powder Technology, accepted
P. Khayyatzadeh, P., F. Fu & N.M. Abukhdeir. Field-driven dynamics of nematic microcapillaries (2015) Physical Review E 92:062509
J. Dong, N.M. Abukhdeir and I.A. Goldthorpe. Simple assembly of long nanowires through substrate stretching and quantifying the alignment (2015) Nanotechnology 26(48):485302
J. McGill, N.M. Abukhdeir, B. Ogunnaike, and D. Vlachos. Analysis and control of heteroepitaxial systems. J. Process Control 27:50-63, special issue on Control of Self-assembly (2015)
F. Fu and N.M. Abukhdeir. A Topologically-informed Hyperstreamline Seeding Method for Alignment Tensor Fields. IEEE Transactions on Computer Graphics and Visualization 21(3):413-419 (2015)
R Suderman, D Lizotte, and NM Abukhdeir. Theory and Application of Shapelets to the Analysis of Surface Self-assembly Imaging, Physical Review E 91:033307 (2015)
Khaligh, H., Liew, K., Han, Y., Abukhdeir, N., & Goldthorpe, I.A. Silver nanowire transparent electrodes for liquid crystal-based smart windows. Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 132:337-341 (2015)
T. Treeratanaphitak, M. Pritzker, and NM Abukhdeir. Atomistic Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Polycrystalline Copper Electrodeposition. Electrochemistry Communications 46:140-143 (2014)
T. Treeratanaphitak, M. Pritzker, and N. Abukhdeir. Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of Electrodeposition using the Embedded-Atom Method. Electrochimica Acta 121:407-414 (2014)
Sun, B.; Hong, W.; Aziz, H.; Abukhdeir, N. M. & Li, Y. Dramatically enhanced molecular ordering and charge transport of a DPP-based polymer assisted by oligomers through antiplasticization. J. Mater. Chem. C, 1, 4423-4426 (2013)
N.M. Abukhdeir and D.G. Vlachos. Nano-Scale Surface Pattern Evolution in Heteroepitaxial Bimetallic Films. ACS Nano, 5(9):7168-7175, (2011)
N.M. Abukhdeir and D.G. Vlachos. and M. Katsoulakis and M. Plexousakis. Long-time integration methods for mesoscopic models of pattern-forming systems. Journal of Computational Physics 230(14):5704-5715 (2011)
NM Abukhdeir and A.D. Rey. Simulation of spherulite growth using a comprehensive approach to modeling the first-order isotropic/smectic-A mesophase transition. Commun. Comput. Phys. 7:301-316 (2010)
N.M. Abukhdeir & A.D. Rey. Edge dislocation core structure in lamellar smectic-A liquid crystals. Soft Matter 6:1117-1120 (2010)
E.R. Soulé, N.M. Abukhdeir, and A.D. Rey Thermodynamics, transition dynamics, and texturing in polymer-dispersed liquid crystals with mesogens exhibiting a direct isotropic/smectic-a transition. Macromolecules 42(24), pp 9486-9497 (2009)
N.M. Abukhdeir & A.D. Rey. Non-isothermal model for the direct isotropic/smectic-A liquid crystalline transition. Langmuir 24 (2009) 11923-11929
N.M. Abukhdeir & A.D. Rey. Meta-stable nematic pre-ordering in smectic liquid crystalline phase transitions. Macromolecules 42(12), pp 3841-3844 (2009)
NM Abukhdeir and AD Rey. Shape-dynamic growth, structure, and elasticity of homogeneously oriented spherulites in an isotropic/smectic-A mesophase transition. Liquid Crystals 36(10-11), pp 1125-1137 (2009), Special Issue dedicated to Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
E.R. Soulé, N.M. Abukhdeir, and A.D. Rey Theory and computation of directional nematic phase ordering. Phys. Rev. E 79:021702 (2009)
NM Abukhdeir, ER Soulé, and AD Rey Non-Isothermal Model for Nematic Spherulite Growth. Langmuir 24:13605-13613 (2008)
NM Abukhdeir and AD Rey, Defect kinetics and dynamics of the isotropic/smectic-A phase transition. New Journal of Physics 10:063025 (2008)
AD Rey and NM Abukhdeir Flow Perturbation Model for Filament Buckling. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics 153(2-3):177-182 (2008)
AD Rey and NM Abukhdeir Mechanical Model for Filament Buckling and Growth by Phase Ordering. Langmuir 24(3):662-665 (2008)