In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Dor Ben-Amotz of Purdue University and his graduate research students will study the aqueous solvation of hydrophobic species with a combined experimental and theoretical study. The aim of the program is to critically test aspects of recent theories on solvation that emphasize the importance of solvent expulsion around non-polar molecules (dewetting). The results of these studies should help to explain a broad variety of important processes: from the formation of biological membranes to self-assembly, molecular recognition, chemical separation and environmental remediation.
Besides the broad impact of the research on several areas of science, Prof. Ben-Amotz will continue to provide his research students with excellent training in experimental as well as theoretical methods.
