Delivering and Removing Colloidal Particles with a Pinch of Salt

Seminar Guest: Dr. Sangwoo Shin, University at Buffalo

Abstract: The transport of colloids and solutes in complex, confined environments is a common process occurring in many critical applications such as drug delivery, oil extraction, CO2 sequestration, bioseparation, soil remediation, and water purification. These systems often exhibit spatiotemporal inhomogeneities in the solute and colloid distributions, which may lead to unique colloidal dynamics coupled to solute transport via non-equilibrium processes. One of which is diffusiophoresis, which refers to the chemotactic migration of colloidal particles induced by solute gradients. In this talk, I will discuss three examples in which diffusiophoresis can be useful for engineering systems that require accelerated colloid transport: (1) delivering therapeutic nanoparticles across a compressed extracellular matrix, (2) purifying water without membrane filters, and (3) obtaining cleaner laundry.

Bio: Sangwoo Shin received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University in 2005 and 2012. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University at Buffalo (UB). Prior to joining UB, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University from 2013 to 2016 and an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii from 2017 to 2021. His research involves diverse problems in the areas of complex fluids, interfacial processes, and transport phenomena in biological and environmental systems.