About the QM Surface Science Group
Research expertise
- Surfactant mixtures in complex multiphase systems: adsorption, aggregation, micellization; phase behaviour; complex systems under high pressure, temperature, salinity, mixing rate.
- Liquid films, wetting, wetting dynamics, jet impingement, bubble entrainment; charged surfaces, electrolyte solutions, stabilization/destabilization of dispersions.
- Characterisation of single interfaces and of complex systems with a range of techniques.
- Surface modification: polymer brush growth on a range of substrates; layer-by-layer assemblies; hydrophobization, roughness.
- Expertise in preparation, characterization and modelling of dispersions: emulsions, porous media, solid dispersions, foams.
- Study of complex fluid/multiphase flows.
Specific applications
- Formulations for fuels, lubricants, drilling fluids for geothermal energy and hydrocarbon recovery, water treatment.
- Microfluidic systems, fluid interaction with solid surfaces, jet instabilities, electro-spraying, inkjet printing.
- Multifunctional nano-engineered delivery systems; drug delivery formulations – emulsions from oil mixtures, theranostic nanoparticles, gene delivery, remote navigation and release of encapsulated materials.
Chemically reactive systems
- Fouling and antifouling properties, from engines to biological systems. Surfactant oxidative degradation; organic phase and bio matter degradation; scaling.
- Catalysis, reactor modelling, dispersions in reactors. Chemical and biochemical reactions in confined systems.
- Bioreactors. Growing stem cells on emulsion interfaces – cell-material interactions and regulation of phenotype.
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