This CAREER award supports computational research aimed to develop a mesoscale model that can explicitly capture transport processes and micromechanics of soft polymer gels. This model will be used to examine the behavior of environmentally-sensitive microgel capsules and their assemblies. Such microscopic containers that can sense the surroundings, regulate release of encapsulated solutes, and even actively interact with each other to build multi-component structures could be effectively utilized in a broad range of practical applications including drug delivery systems, highly sensitive surface sensors, colloidal bioassays, and lab-on-a-chip systems. However, a better fundamental understanding of the dynamic behavior of swelling/deswelling microgels and how it affects the transport and release of encapsulated solutes is needed to effectively utilize microgels in various applications. The PI will use a particle-based computational model to investigate micromechanics of gels with different internal structures, to examine transport properties of gel membranes and the effects of capsule shape on swelling/deswelling transition, and to probe release of encapsulated solutes from responsive microgel capsules including transport of solutes in capsule clusters.
To advance science and engineering education, the PI will organize a video clip competition among undergraduate students at Georgia Tech. The students will prepare short educational YouTube videos that explain various fluid phenomena in a manner accessible for high-school students and the general public. A graduate level Computational Fluid Mechanics course will be developed preparing students to use advanced computational methods to solve engineering problems. The PI will host a science teacher and high-school students from the Atlanta Public School system that will work on computational projects in the PI lab.
NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY
This CAREER award supports research and education to develop a computational model to explore elastic polymer networks. Polymer networks involve individual long chain-like molecules that are interconnected to form a three-dimensional solid-like material. They are common in many biological and synthetic systems, for example cell cytoskeletons, medical implants, and cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. The PI will employ the computational model to investigate the behavior of microscopic capsules made of soft polymeric gels that change their shape and volume in response to changes in local temperature or level of acidity. Among the many applications of these responsive microcapsules, they can be used for delivering drugs to a specific location within the body thereby enhancing the effect of the drug. The PI will use computer simulations to investigate the release of different solutes from responsive microcapsules and will probe how this process can be regulated by tailoring capsule material properties and geometry. Assemblies of microcapsules will be also investigated in order to understand how multiple capsules can be programmed to self-organize and perform complex collective functions. The latter could be utilized to create new typos of self-regulating drug delivery systems that could adapt their action to specific therapeutic conditions.
To advance science and engineering education, the PI will organize a video clip competition among undergraduate students at Georgia Tech. The students will prepare short educational YouTube videos that explain various fluid phenomena in a manner accessible for high-school students and the general public. A graduate level Computational Fluid Mechanics course will be developed preparing students to use advanced computational methods to solve engineering problems. The PI will host a science teacher and high-school students from the Atlanta Public School system that will work on computational projects in the PI's lab.
