Talk by Prof. Mukta Tripathi

Nov 28, 2011 - 16:00

Nov 28, 2011 - 16:00

Room 118 (Creativity Hall) Ground Floor Chemical Engg Building

Seminars

Prof. Mukta Tripathi Department of Chemical Engineering IIT Gandhinagar

Abstract: Colloidal systems encounter a wide range of applications such as in food paints ceramics water treatment and catalysis. Moreover recent experimental innovation has led to the synthesis of a diverse range of asymmetric colloidal particles which find many sophisticated applications such as photonic crystals biological sensors and optical fibres. While the experimental synthesis of such anisotropic particles can be fairly well‐controlled we do not yet theoretically understand the behavior of these systems and hence cannot rationally design materials for specific applications apriori. This talk is motivated towards developing a theoretical understanding of the dynamics and phase behavior of anisotropic colloids. In particular I will focus on two kinds of anisotropies (a) Shape‐anisotropic colloidal particles which deviate from the symmetric spherical shape (e.g. rods) and (b) chemically anisotropic particles which display heterogeneities on their surface (e.g. Janus particles). I will demonstrate the rich variety of thermodynamic and kinetic phase behavior that these anisotropic particles exhibit such as the formation of attractive and repulsive glasses gels crystals and various self‐assembled structures. The present study contributes towards building a theoretical framework with which to understand these novel systems.About the Speaker: Mukta Tripathy received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Ohio State University in 2005 and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign in 2010. Her area of interest is the theory of soft matter systems and she is currently an Assistant Professor at IIT Gandhinagar.