Graduate SeminarsDr. Robert E. Cohen St. Laurent Professor of Chemical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology
*THURSday, APRIL 2, 2009 - 5:00 pm 1175 Benedum HallReception to follow lecture at 6:00 PM"Bumpy Beetles, Moth Eyes, Butterfly Wings and Patchy Immune Cells: Exploitation of Layer-by-Layer Assembly in Bio-Inspired Materials Engineering" Collaboration with colleague Professor Michael F. Rubner of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has led to a focus on novel and useful surface/thin-film phenomena that are observed in nature. We have employed a simple and elegant water-based assembly technique to provide conformal multifunctional coatings on a wide variety of substrates. Proper selection of nanoparticles and macromolecules, along with precise control of processing conditions, has enabled us to develop materials that mimic some fascinating natural phenomena: fog harvesting by desert beetles, broadband antireflection of the moth eye, and the brilliant structural colors found in hummingbird and butterfly wings. In a recent project we have assembled payload-containing ‘backpack’ structures on living immune cells for possible use in in-vivo imaging, therapies and bottom-up tissue engineering.
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