(229e) Smart Materials and Microfluidics Research Practicum for Chemical Engineering Students: A Case Study

Microfluidics is an interdisciplinary area combining chemistry, biology, fluid mechanics, nanotechnology and engineering. It deals with liquid flows in channels with the diameter between several micrometers and a millimeter, reduces dramatically the amount of required reagents; only minutes are needed to carry out complex reactions and analytic procedures which usually require weeks for preparation. In addition, microfluidics provides unique conditions for synthesizing and fine-tuning nanoparticles, as well as making drug delivery complexes which cannot be obtained in bulk solutions.

Microfluidics is a tool being intensively studied and used in the USA, Europe, Japan and China. The analysis of selected publications by Andrew de Mello (Imperial College London), Steven Wereley (Purdue University), Anna Shelley (Carnegie Mellon University), Olga Vinogradova (Moscow State University), Takasi Nisisako (Tokyo Institute of Technology), and Jean Christophe Baret (Max Planck Institute in Gottingen, Germany) reveal a sustainable interest of the world scientific community to fabrication of microfluidic chips, exploring their analytic potential, adaptation of research methods to a microscale, and synthesis of new nanosystems in such chips. In other words, microfluidics is expected to revolutionize chemistry as microelectronics did it for electrical engineering.

MOTIVATION

Polymers and surfactants are indispensable components of living matter and chemical industry processes: nucleic acids and proteins, detergents, enhanced oil recovery reagents, and drug delivery systems. They can easily form nanoparticles by self-organization. They are ‘smart systems’ as they can be easily controlled by many factors, such as pH, temperature, solvent, and etc. Thus, it is not a surprise that they are common objects of soft matter nanotechnology.

It is thrilling that practical application of such systems often involves microchannels (!): blood capillaries, micropores of catalyst carriers, 3D-printing systems, and etc. If we want to know how to apply them properly, we have to study them in microchannels. Microfluidics, however, mostly deals with flow hydrodynamics, fabrication of chips and chemical analysis. Polymer-surfactant systems are also mostly studied in bulk solutions, and not in microchannels. Several publications discussing polymers and surfactants in microfluidic devices are rather individual papers than a focused approach. Thus, a systematic and focused study of polymer-surfactant association in microfluidic environment will be an excitingly new interdisciplinary area which will contribute both to fundamental knowledge and practical applications of such systems.

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS PROJECT is to synthesize and characterize polyelectrolyte-surfactant nanocomplexes and to tune their properties with the use of microfluidic approach.

The secondary goal was to develop a study module consisting of several courses in English involving microfluidics and smart materials to train visiting students at Kazan National Research Technological University, Russia

Intermediate goal: to attract grant support in science and education to support research and academic aspects of project implementation.

Preliminary project implementation results:

The project was already supported two grants: the local (Russian) academic mobility grant to do research at Carnegie Mellon University in the area of microfluidics.

The second grant was given by the federal foundation to support development of the stidy program in the area of smart materials and microfluidics

Anticipated project outcomes with the attracted grant support:

I am confident that this project will shape my scientific career for the next 4-5 years. First of all, I will use my project experience to establish a microfluidic experimental set-up at the Department of Physical and Colloidal Chemistry and continue my research in microfluidics involving dynamic light scattering, microscopy and tensiometry methods. I will disseminate the project content in a series of research and methodological publications. Therefore, a new vibrant research area will be launched in my university to make a fresh contribution to the Russian science (where microfluidics is not represented well).

This research project will generate new knowledge in the US, Russian and world science. I hope that obtained quantitative experimental results on the sizes of nanocomplexes, their phase behavior in microfluidic channels, the use of microfluidic chips for fast synthesis of such complexes, and tuning their properties will contribute to understanding the behavior of proteins and nucleic acids in capillary microchannels and making more efficient drug delivery systems.

As I am both a scientist and an experienced internationalization administrator, I will strengthen the link between Carnegie Mellon University and my home university in Russia. Specific projects in research are the best ‘drivers’ of international partnership: they always involve students, faculty, and grants. I will apply for the local grant program to invite the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University to my university to give lectures and workshops in microfluidics. This project will also allow me to approach the administration of my university to apply for the Megagrant of the Russian Federal Government to invite the distinguished faculty of Carnegie Mellon University to create a new laboratory in my university.

Finally, this project will form create a new research and academic environment for chemical engineers at Kazan National Research Technological University who are eager two enrish their expertise with deep understanding of smart materials and microfluidics.