Seminar

Soft matter systems like polymer solutions and colloidal suspensions routinely undergo flow processes that drive them out of equilibrium during industrial processing. During these processes, the polymer chains undergo configurational changes, overcoming the effects of external friction from the solvent molecules and internal friction arising from intramolecular interactions. Self-propelled colloidal particles, or active matter, are inherently out-of-equilibrium as they harness chemical energy from their environment to overcome dissipation from the surrounding fluid. In this talk, I will share some of my research work on: (a) model development to predict experimentally observed pattern-formation in active droplets with non-reciprocal interactions and (b) the rheological and mechanical response of polymer chain models with internal friction. I will conclude by presenting a roadmap for future research that aims to quantify the connection between energy dissipation at the microscale of driven soft materials and their macroscale properties.