Soft Matter Blog

Short Course: Designing Soft Nano and Microstructured Materials: Processing and Commercial Applications
Sunday May 12, 2013, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Washington, DC, USA

Soft materials are a fascinating class of fluids that have unusual, complex, “squishy” properties that are imparted by a surprisingly small amount of added ingredients. This overview course surveys the application of a wide range of soft materials, both aqueous and non-aqueous, using colloids, surfactants, polymers, and the mesoscale structures they can form. The student will be exposed to current and historical work in the field, with an emphasis on commercial processing and applications like foods, personal care products, drug formulations, oil exploration, and materials synthesis. Numerous examples will be shared and used as the basis to “tunnel down” to smaller length scales to explore the microscopic and molecular reasons for the unique behavior of soft materials on a large scale.

A visual approach, using movies and images, is taken to explore the field and share the small-scale insights gained from techniques like microscopy, microfluidics, and microrheology. Because one of the key attributes of soft materials is their mechanical and rheological behavior, wherever possible the link between microstructure and bulk properties will be explained and used to motivate their range of applications.

The survey and guidelines presented in the class are assembled into a set of course notes intended to serve as a standalone guide to designing various classes of soft materials and a reference for current research in the area and practical techniques of characterization and formulation.

Course Instructor
Pat Spicer has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware (1992) and a PhD in (1997) Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, where his research focused on design and synthesis of colloidal and nanoparticle materials. After defending his thesis he went to work for the Procter & Gamble Company, leading their Crystallization group in the Corporate Engineering Division and supporting the scale-up and manufacture of complex fluid products for all of P&G’s product areas. After 15 years with P&G, Pat began work as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. There his research focuses on the design and development of microstructured fluid materials and understanding of their kinetic behavior.

Scattering methods have evolved in both complexity and in application over the past 30 years. The aim of this two day conference is to show how increasingly complex chemical, magnetic and biological systems demand a multi-technique approach in order to derive a full description of their behaviour. The meeting is combined with the 2013 Sir Eric Rideal lecture given by the award recipient, Prof. Jeff Penfold.

Confirmed speakers include: R. K. Thomas, T. Zemb, A. R. Rennie, I. M. Tucker, J. T. Petkov, L. Porcar, G. Fragnetto, I. Grillo, D. Barlow, A. Zarbakhsh, J. Penfold and T. Arnold.

We are looking forward to a lively programme of talks, posters and an exhibition showcasing some of the latest equipment relevant to soft matter research. Delegate registration also includes a Gala Dinner in the traditional dining hall of Keble College; a true Oxford experience.

The organising committee would like to thank our generous sponsors STFC (ISIS), Unilever, Malvern Instruments, Biolin Scientific, Diamond Light Source, IOP Neutron Scattering Group and the Joint Colloids Group.

Full details of the conference and the online registration process can be found here. You can also read more about the conference on the Colloid Group website.

The 8th International Dendrimer Symposium (IDS8) will be in Madrid, Spain from 23rd – 27th of June 2013.

IDS8 represents a great opportunity to explore the recent developments on dendrimer synthesis and applications. The organisers are extremely proud to hold the upcoming IDS8 in Madrid. They are planning an attractive Scientific Programme where all areas of dendrimer research will be represented: General, Dendrimer Synthesis & Characterization, Hyperbranched Polymer Synthesis & Characterization, Biological Studies, Drug Delivery, Imaging, Computational Modeling and Databases, Novel Applications, Catalysis and Light Harvesting and Plenary.

Please note the following dates:

• Deadline for Abstract Submission: 30th March 2013
• Deadline for the reduced registration fee is: 15th April 2013

You can find more information on the 8th International Dendrimer Symposium at: http://ids-8.com