SURF Mentoring
Potential projects/topics: Biswal’s group was one of the earliest to engineer “colloidal polymers”, which are chains comprised of micron-sized paramagnetic particles that have been linked together with DNA. By controlling the applied magnetic field and DNA-linker length, chains can be engineered with persistence lengths (the length scale for bending) that vary over five orders of magnitude, ranging from rigid, semiflexible, and flexible. These chains have demonstrated novel dynamics, such as coiling and wagging, as a result of the competition between elastic, magnetic, and viscous forces. Her group has manipulated these chains with magnetic fields to demonstrate new microscale robots. Biswal’s group is also using microfluidic devices to study how to process new materials for energy processes.
Potential skills gained: New understanding of materials, physics, chemistry for energy
Required qualifications: None
Direct mentor: Faculty/P.I., Post-doctorate, Graduate Student
Mentored presenters may have participated in these courses
HONS 471
Student Project Titles List
Naphthenic Acid Adsorption at the Water-Calcite Interface via Spectroscopic Ellipsometry
Application of Nanoparticles to Mitigate Asphaltene Deposition in Crude Oil Reservoirs