Design of complex colloids - UvA · Design of complex colloids Master/Internship project Contact:...

DesignofcomplexcolloidsMaster/InternshipprojectContact:Dr.L.RossiandProf.P.SchallSincecolloidalparticles(10-1000nm),justlikeatomsandmolecules,diffuseduetothermalmotion,theyareoftenusedtostudyatomicandmolecularphenomena.Tomimicverywellmolecularinteractions,however,colloidsmustinteractthroughanisotropicinteractions,forinstancebyusingcolloidswithanon-sphericalshape.Itisthereforeimportanttoworkonthedesignofcolloidswithveryspecificshapesthatcanbeusedasbuildingblocksforthepreparationofnovelmaterialswithpredefinedproperties.

Inthisprojectthestudentwillworkonthesynthesisofcolloidalparticles(buildingblocks)withdifferentdegreesofcomplexity.Severalsubprojectsareavailablewithfocusondifferentpreparationtechniques:

a. Inthissubprojectthestudentwilltrytodevelopasynthesisprocedureforthedevelopmentofpolymer-silicaand/orpolymer-polymercompositecolloids.Theaimoftheprojectistoobtainparticleswithasingle“bump”withtunablesurfaceproperties.

b. Inthissubprojectthestudentwillworkonasynthesisprocedureforthe

developmentofparticleswithoneormore“bumps”combiningemulsiondropletsandcolloidswithdifferentshapespreparedbyinorganicsynthesisandlithographythatwillbeperformedinthenearbyinstituteAMOLF.

c. Inthissubprojectthestudentisexpectedtoworkonthe

preparationofalibraryofdifferentlyshapedmagneticironoxideparticles.Thissubprojectwillalsoinvolvecharacterizationofthemagneticpropertiesoftheparticlesasafunctionofshape.

d. Inthissubprojectthestudentwillworkonthesynthesisofmagneticstimuli-responsivecolloids.Thesynthesisinvolvesthepreparationofinorganicmagneticcolloidsembeddedinapolymershellthatrespondtoexternalstimulisuchastemperatureand/orpH,thusallowingswitchingonandoffthemagneticinteraction.

Towardstheendofeachproject,thestudentwillbeabletotesttheassemblypropertiesoftheparticlesviatargetedexperimentswhichusuallyinvolvetheuseofopticaland/orconfocalmicroscopytechniques.Formoreinformation,pleasecontact:Dr.L.RossiorProf.P.SchallInstituteofPhysicsUniversityofAmsterdamScienceParkC4.243Tel.(0)205257054Email.L.Rossi@uva.nl,P.Schall@uva.nl

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