Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Whitaker Lab 303
Lehigh University's Materials Science and Engineering department would like to remind you about its upcoming speakers in it Fall 2021 Seminar Series. Seminars are open to all visitors. Attendance is required for all full-time MSE graduate students.
On Tuesday, September 21 at 4:30 p.m. EDT, Dr. Sam Wilson-Whitford will present "Methods of encapsulating mobile microparticles," as part of Materials Science and Engineering's Fall 2021 Seminar Series. The event will be held in person at Whitaker Lab Room 303.
Abstract:
Particle containing composite microcapsules have become increasingly prevalent and are widely employed in a wide range of applications including pharmaceutical, personal care, nanocomposite self-healing barrier films and coatings industries. Most commonly, small particles are held at the interface (as seen in colloidosomes), or physically arrested in a solid core. Microencapsulation through polymerization or precipitation on the interface of emulsion droplets, has been widely successful in creating capsules of fluids that can be then incorporated in other media. However, due to surface energy, particles will adsorb at the droplet interface, as a result making it difficult to synthesize microcapsules of suspensions of freely diffusive or movable particles.
During this presentation, I will describe some of the strategies we have taken to circumvent the tendency of particles to adsorb to the interface and also take a glimpse at how these methodologies can be useful for the design of responsive materials.
About The Speaker:
Dr. Sam Wilson-Whitford obtained a M.Chem and PhD in Chemistry at the University of Warwick (UK) under the supervision of Prof. dr. ir. Stefan Bon. His thesis focused on the supramolecular behavior of carbamate and urea moieties, specifically to develop associative polymers for use as shear reversible drag reducers. Following the completion of his PhD, Sam worked in collaboration with the Beauty and Personal care division of Unilever UK. This project focused on the microencapsulation of dissolved crystalline active ingredients, and also aimed to suppress leakage into the continuous phase and subsequent Ostwald ripening of these active ingredients. Since beginning a post-doc in the lab of Professor James Gilchrist (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh University), Sam has worked in a wide range of projects, from those familiar to him, such as polymer and colloidal synthesis, to the unfamiliar such as active/responsive materials, granular systems and particle coatings. His main research focus at Lehigh has been the microencapsulation of mobile/responsive micron-sized particles in oil-in-water systems.