(6fe) Flow of Soft Matter in Complex Geometries

Research Interests: Engineering the architecture of complex materials is critical in multiscale applications. These applications range widely from drug delivery by biological fluids through deformable tissue and cell membranes to enhanced oil recovery that uses structured polymer solutions in rigid porous media reservoirs. These soft matter systems such as an injection of hydrogels from a needle to joints induce non-linear and non-equilibrium mechanical responses like stress relaxation and plastic deformation during transport or use in various geometries. Especially, when contacting reactive or reorganizable regions, these materials can be activated by changing charges, ionic strength, or photons. My goal is to connect the missing pieces between macroscopic viscoelastic flow properties and the nanostructure of the material using responsive boundary conditions. I plan to achieve this target using a combined platform of scattering techniques, rheology, and 3D-printed microfluidic environments. These techniques provide excellent spatiotemporal accuracy and are important to enhance the progress of understanding these materials.

Proposal Experience: NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR, USA)

Postdoctoral Project: “Revealing Elastic and Flow Properties of Structured Fluids by Microfluidics.” Under supervision of Norman J. Wagner and Eric M. Furst, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware and NCNR

PhD Dissertation: “Investigation of Interfacial and Rheological Properties of Asphaltenes at Solid-Liquid and Liquid-Liquid Interfaces.” Under supervision of Sibani Lisa Biswal, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University

Research Experience: My research has focused on the development of novel frameworks to advance soft matter characterization and application. During my Ph.D. at Rice U., I pioneered microfluidic devices that represent porous media along with confocal microscopy to engineer the interfacial and rheological properties of natural macromolecules in tunable physicochemical environments. As a postdoc at U. Delaware, this microfluidic platform has been extended further to explore structure-property relationships for injectable and suspension-stabilizable structured materials by using advanced non-linear rheological methods and both X-ray and neutron scattering techniques. This advanced platform has been extensively used for polymer solutions, hydrogels, colloidal suspensions, and biofluids. I also have collaborated with beamline scientists at NIST and TA Instruments to construct a new flow cell with highly improved temporal and spatial resolution and lowered friction to simultaneously measure rheology and small angle neutron scattering (Rheo-SANS) for all of the 1-2, 1-3, and 2-3 planes.

Future Direction: My future research lab will involve theoretical and experimental work to understand how colloidal-scale and molecular-level features of complex materials contribute to non-linear properties at responsive boundaries. I am especially interested in designing a yield-stress system that is inspired by a biological equivalent to those found in nature which also contains self-healing capabilities and can be stimulated by controllable interfaces. I will use advanced rheological methods and models (orthogonal and parallel superposition, shear and extensional startup, and thixotropic structure kinetics) along with neutron and X-ray scattering to characterize the soft matter under deformation using the newly generated flow cell. Also, I will continue to develop the research platform of recoverable interfaces with a changeable deformability that can be established by 3D-printed microfluidics using smart materials and lithography techniques. Finally, I will use active micro-rheology and atomic force microscopy to probe the local mechanical stresses near the boundaries that could drive the interaction. Therefore, my laboratory will incorporate 3D complex-responsive geometries with smart soft materials characterized by advanced rheological methods and models along with scattering techniques.

Teaching Interests: I am excited about teaching fundamental courses in the field of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, particularly momentum, mass, and heat transfer and kinetics. I am also interested in teaching advanced courses, including colloidal and interfacial science and rheology. At Rice University, I mentored five undergraduates and one high school student. I helped them developed research projects individually, and I found that mutual interaction and scientific communication are the keys to success. Therefore, I intend to create an environment with strong interactions both in class and in the lab.

Selected Publications:

1. Y.J. Lin, J. Horner, B. Illie, M. Lynch, E.M. Furst, N.J. Wagner, “Revealing Macroscopic Viscoelastic Flow Properties of Structured Yield Stress Fluids by Microfluidics”, In Preparation, (2019)
2. Y.J. Lin, T. Cao, M.L. Chacon-Patino, S. Rowland, R. Rodgers, A. Yen, S.L. Biswal, “Microfluidic Study of the Deposition Dynamics of Asphaltene Sub-fractions Enriched with Island and Archipelago Motifs”, Energy Fuels, (2019), 33 (3), 1882-1891
3. Y.J. Lin, A. Perrard, S.L. Biswal, R.M. Hill, S. Trabelsi, “Microfluidic Investigation of Asphaltenes-Stabilized Water-in-Oil Emulsions”, Energy Fuels, (2018), 32 (4), 4903-4910
4. Y.J. Lin, S. Barman, P. He, Z. Zhang, G.F. Christopher, S.L. Biswal, “Combined Interfacial Shear Rheology and Microstructure Visualization of Asphaltenes at Air-Water and Oil-Water Interfaces”, Journal of Rheology, (2018), 62, (1), 1-10
5. Y.J. Lin, P. He, M. Tavakkoli, N.T. Mathew, Y.F. Yap, J.C. Chai, A. Goharzadeh, F.M. Vargas, S.L. Biswal, “Characterizing Asphaltene Deposition in the Presence of Chemical Dispersants in Porous Media Micromodels”, Energy Fuels, (2017), 31 (11), 11660-11668
6. Y.J. Lin, P. He, M. Tavakkoli, N. Mathew, Y.F. Yap, J.C. Chai, A. Goharzadeh, F.M. Vargas, S.L. Biswal, “Examining Asphaltene Solubility on Deposition in Model Porous Media”, Langmuir, (2016), 32 (34), 8729-8734
7. Y. Zhuang, A. Goharzardeh, Y.J. Lin, Y.F. Yap, J.C. Chai, N. Mathew, F.M. Vargas, S.L. Biswal, “Three Dimensional Measurements of Asphaltene Deposition in a Transparent Micro-channel”, Journal Petroleum Science and Engineering, (2016), 145, 77-82
8. C.W. Liang, C.H. Lee, Y.J. Lin, Y.T. Lee, C.K. Ni, “MALDI Mechanism of Dihydroxybenzoic Acid Isomers: Desorption of Neutral Matrix and Analyte.”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, (2013), 117 (17), 5058-5064
9. C.W. Liang, P.J. Chang, Y.J. Lin, Y.T. Lee, C.K. Ni, “High Ion Yields of Carbohydrates from Frozen Solution by UV-MALDI”, Analytical Chemistry, (2012), 84 (8), 3493-3499
10. W.S. Wen, J.K. Lai, Y.J. Lin, C.M. Lai, Y.C. Huang, S.S. Wang, J.S. Jan, “Effects of Copolypeptides on Amyloid Fibrillation of Hen Egg-White Lysozyme”, Biopolymers, (2012), 97 (2), 107-116