CBE Seminar: Styliani Consta

Description

Title: Chemistry in Small Volumes: Insight from Molecular Modeling of Multiple Charged Droplets

Abstract: Microscale and nanoscale confining environment alter the chemistry of many processes and may lead to a significant acceleration of reactions and new synthetic pathways. Droplets, in particular, provide a distinct environment due to confinement effects and large interfacial areas. Similarly, charged droplets influence the location and physical properties of macroions due to the presence of electric fields. I will Illustrate the observed complexity of behavior though the following cases: highly non-convex droplets, droplet fission mechanisms, ejection of macroions from droplets, ultra-cool droplets and the chemical equilibria in small volumes. these topics find applications in electrospray ionization with well-controlled geometry.

Biography: Dr. Consta is a Professor in the Chemistry Department at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and a 2022-2023 Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Air Quality, and Atmospheric Chemistry. Dr. Consta obtained her B.Sc in Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, her MSc in Quantum Chemistry at Queen's University, and her Ph.D. (1997) at the Chemical Physics Theory Group of the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor R. Kapral. At Western, Dr. Consta initiated the studies of "Chemistry in Small Volume" which find applications in atmospheric chemistry, mass spectrometry, accelerated reactivity in nano- and micro-reactors, compartmentalization in biological cells, and in nano-fluidity. The problems are tackled by computational, mathematical modeling, and data analytics. Dr. Consta has received several awards including two Marie Curie research awards.