2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

chemical nature of things and provides
an insight into an exploding variety
of new technologies that are rapidly
reshaping the society we live in.
Current Research Activities
Science and Engineering of Polymers
and Soft Materials. Theoretical
and experimental studies of novel or
important macromolecules and their
applications, especially surface-active
species: ultrasonic sensor, scanning
probe microscopy and reflectivity studies
of adsorption and self-assembly of highly
branched “dendrimers” at the solidliquid
interface, with the aim of creating
novel surface coatings; fluorescence
tracer studies of molecular level mobility
in ultrathin polymer films with the aim
of improving resolution in lithography;
reflectivity studies and computer
simulation of flexible polymer adsorption
and the response of adsorbed polymer
layers to imposed flows with the aim
of improving polymer processing
operations; optical microscopy studies
and numerical simulation of microporous
polymer membrane formation with
the aim of improving ultrafiltration
membrane technology; synthesis and
structural characterization of bio-active
polymer surfaces in order to realize
new in-vivo devices; contact angle,
x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and
reflectivity analysis, and lattice model
simulation, of responsive polymer
surfaces based on unique polymeric
“surfactants” in order to develop “smart”
surface-active materials; preparation and
IR/fluorescence characterization of DNAdecorated
surfaces for “recognition”
of DNA in solution in order to further
medical diagnostic technologies;
preparation and characterization
via TEM, AFM, and reflectivity of
nanoparticle-block copolymer
composites with the aim of very high
density magnetic storage media; selfconsistent
field theory of nanoparticleblock
copolymer composites; computer
simulation and theory of unique “living”
polymerization processes important
to synthetic polymer production and
biological systems; theory and simulation
of irreversible polymer adsorption.
Genomics Engineering. Research
and development of novel bioanalytical
reagents, systems, and processes using
chemical science, engineering principles,
and experimental biological approaches
to study problems in genomics are
actively pursued in the Department of
Chemical Engineering in collaboration
with the Columbia Genome Center:
high-throughput DNA sequencing; novel
gene chip development and fundamental
understanding of the processes involved;
applying the cutting-edge genomic
technologies to study fundamental
biology and for disease gene discovery.
Biophysics and Soft Matter Physics.
Theoretical and experimental biophysics
of biological soft matter: actin filament
growth kinetics and its role in living
cell motility; DNA hybridization, melting
and unzipping; DNA microarrays in
biotechnology; model gene circuits; DNA
mobility in 2D microfluidics. Physics of
synthetic soft matter: nanoparticles in
mesostructured polymer phases and
phase transitions; universal scaling
laws in reacting polymer systems and
polymerization phenomena; polymerinterface
adsorption phenomena;
polymer interfacial reactions; diffusion
of particles in thin polymer films;
interactions of charged polymer minigels
with interfaces.
Bioinductive and Biomimetic
Materials. The thrust of this research
is to develop new strategies for the
molecular design of polymeric and soft
materials for biological and biomedical
applications. Ongoing research pertains
to the development of bioactive hydrogel
coatings for applications in glucose
sensors. The objective of the coatings is
to control the tissue-sensor interactions
by incorporating cell-signaling motifs
into the hydrogel in such a manner that
the hydrogel induces the formation of
new vascular tissue within the surface
coating. In this fashion, the biosensor
can continue to operate in vivo, even if
there is an immune response leading to
fibrous encapsulation. Complementary
research programs are aimed at
developing methods for patterning
biological surfaces in order to prepare
new biocompatible surfaces as well as
to fabricate antigen/antibody and protein
arrays for diagnostic applications.
Interfacial Engineering and
Electrochemistry. Research efforts
within the department are focused on
mass transfer and reaction mechanisms
in electrochemical systems, and the
effects that such variables have on
process design and materials properties.
Applications of the research program
include fuel cells, electrodeposition,
and corrosion. Both electrochemical
and microscopy methods are used
extensively for characterization.
A significant numerical simulation
component of the research programs
also exists.
Facilities for Teaching and
Research
The Department of Chemical Engineering
is continually striving to provide access to
state-of-the-art research instrumentation
and computational facilities for its
undergraduate and graduate students,
postdoctoral associates, and faculty.
Departmental equipment is considered to
be in most cases shared, which means
that equipment access is usually open to
all qualified individuals with a need to use
particular instrumentation.
The most extensive collection of
instrumentation in the department
is associated with the polymer and
soft matter research faculty. Faculty
banded together to create a unique
shared-facilities laboratory, completed
at the end of 2001. The shared facilities
include a fully equipped polymer
synthesis lab with four fumes hoods,
a 10'x16' soft wall clean room, metal
evaporator system, a Milligen 9050
peptide synthesizer, and polymer thin
film preparation and substrate cleaning
stations. Also installed are new,
computer-controlled thermal analysis,
rheometric, and light-scattering setups.
Specialized instrumentation for surface
analysis includes an optical/laser
system dedicated to characterization
of polymer surface dynamics by Fluorescence
Recovery after Photobleaching
and a PHI 5500 X-ray photoelectron
spectrophotometer with monochromator
that is capable of angle-dependent
depth profiling and XPS imaging.
The system can also perform SIMS
and ion scattering experiments. A
digital image analysis system for the
characterization of sessile and pendant
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engineering 2011–2012