CBE - Research

Complex Fluids and Polymers

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Under the umbrella of Complex Fluids and Polymers, many research groups within CBE are pioneering research in areas such as:

• Polymer rheology
• Transport in complex fluids
• Soft matter
• Interfacial science

Much of the research conducted in these areas has direct applications in:

• Energy applications: Liquid fuel cells, conducting lubricants, electrolytes for lithium metal batteries, nanoparticle fluids for carbon capture, nanomaterials for biomass conversion
• Transport processes in living systems: Treatment of brain tumors, artificial trees, bioseparations
• Microfluidics: Microscale fuel cells, separation devices, microscale mixing.
• Adhesion: Liquid bridges and capillary wetting

The Role of Chemical Engineers

Understanding the structure, rheology, interfacial and transport behaviors of complex fluids and polymers is among the foremost challenges of chemical engineering science. Faculty at Cornell are addressing this challenge through analytical theory, numerical simulation and experiments that span length scales from nanometers to meters. Inspired by the success of integrated electronics, scientists and engineers have initiated an effort to miniaturize chemical processes. This scaling down exaggerates the importance of interfacial forces and inspires studies of a rich set of transport processes including:

• Surface-induced chaotic flows for enhancing transport and mixing in microscale fuel cells.
• Field-assisted separation of charged molecules and particles in micro- and nanofluidic arrays.
• Stability, interactions, and dynamics of arrays of liquid droplets and their use in field-responsive adhesives and actuators in MEMS.
• Morphological and shape evolution of polymeric and inorganic nanofibrils in strongly stretching flows produced by electrospinning.
• Surface migration of polymeric and nanoparticle additives in polymer hosts.
• Advances in synthetic chemistry during the last two decades allow the architecture of polymers, particles and hybrid systems to be manipulated almost at will. This provides great freedom with which to develop new materials with useful properties. To take advantage of these developments, fundamental understanding of phase behavior, hydrodynamics, and rheology are required.

Current efforts in this area include:

• Development of innovative molecular simulation methods for predicting phase behavior of block copolymers and their mixtures.
• Hydrodynamic modeling of particle-fluid systems for predicting averaged transport properties.
• Numerical analysis of processing flow behavior of polymers that undergo phase change.
• Synthesis and characterization of transport properties of novel branched polymers and polymer particle hybrids. This effort also explores hybrids as electrolytes for next-generation batteries and as media for capturing and sequestering carbon. Living systems inspire basic transport questions with their beautiful management of transport processes over length scales from molecular to macroscopic. We study transport and fluid physics in these systems in a variety of physiologically important situations.
• Interactions of “randomly” swimming microorganisms and their ability to produce large-scale coherent motions.
• Micro-engineered systems that mimic transpiration in green plants and functional vascular arrays in living tissues.
• Targeted delivery of therapeutics to brain tumors using convection.
• Electric field-induced sorting and separation of proteins and DNA in lipid bilayers and gels.

Research Area Faculty

	Name	Department	Contact
	Archer, Lynden A. William C. Hooey Director of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	348 Olin Hall 607 254-8825
	Cohen, Claude Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	318A Olin Hall 607 255-7292
	Daniel, Susan Assistant Professor	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	256 Olin Hall 607 255-4675
	Duncan, T. Michael Raymond G. Thorpe Teaching Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	352 Olin Hall 607 255-8715
	Escobedo, Fernando A. Marjorie L. Hart Professor of Engineering	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	120 Olin Hall 607 255-8243
	Joo, Yong L. Associate Professor	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	340 Olin Hall 607 255-8591
	Koch, Donald L. Professor	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	250 Olin Hall 607 255-3484
	Olbricht, William L. Professor	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Biomedical Engineering	378 Olin Hall 607 255-4362
	Steen, Paul H. Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Engineering	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	346 Olin Hall 607 255-4749
	Zia, Roseanna N. Assistant Professor and James C. and Rebecca Q. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow	Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	344 Olin Hall 607 254-3353