Chemical Physics Seminar: Electrically charged self-assembly: Gradient flow media with reaction-diffusion properties

Abstract:

Self-assembly driven by phase separation coupled to Coulombic interactions is fundamental to a wide range of applications, examples of which include soft matter lithography via di-block copolymers, membrane design using poly-electrolytes, and renewable energy applications based on complex nano-materials, such as ionic liquids. I will show by using two continuum case models, ionic liquids and charged polymers, that although charged self-assembly is a gradient flow system, it surprisingly displays several fundamental features that are related to far from equilibrium (reaction-diffusion) systems. The latter are not only enable natural emergence of Turing patterns in conserved media but also suggest novel strategies to form spatially localized patterning.

Seminar Organizers: Dr. Sharly Fleischer and Dr. Tal Schwartz