Author: Sai Etha
Dissertation title: Molecular-scale exploration of interactions between drops and particles with a polymeric layer
Date, time and venue: 3/16/23 from 3-5pm in EGR 2164
Committee Members:
Dr. Siddhartha Das (Chair)
Dr. Taylor J Woehl (Dean’s Representative)
Dr. Pratyush Tiwary
Dr. Amir Riaz
Dr. Avik Dutt
Abstract: Surface-grafted polymer molecules have been extensively employed for surface modifications as they ensure changes to the inherent physical/chemical properties of surface. Bottom-up surface processing with well-defined polymeric structures becomes increasingly important in many current technologies. Polymer brushes, which are polymer molecules grafted to a substrate by its one end at close enough proximity (thereby ensuring that they stretch out like the “bristles” of a toothbrush), provide an exemplary system of materials capable of achieving such a goal. In particular, producing functional polymer brushes with well-defined chemical configurations, densities, architectures, and thicknesses on a material surface has become increasingly important in many fields.
In my dissertation, I employ Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to study the interplay of interactions between nanoparticles (NPs), solvent drops and polymer grafted surfaces under various system conditions. This study will help us to understand (1) the wetting dynamics of brush grafted surfaces and the associated brush conformational changes, (2) polymer-insoluble solvophilic NP assembly in brush grafted surfaces and the steric interactions driven establishment of direct contacts between a NP and a polymer layer (highly phobic to the NP), and (3) microphase separation and distillation-like behavior of grafted polymer bilayers interacting with a binary liquid mixture, and the resulting nanofluidic valving behavior of swollen polymer bilayers in a weak interpenetration regime.