Alauna C Wheeler

I experimentally study the physics of the emergence of order from disorder by measuring the growth of ordered domains and the self-assembly process of nanoparticle microstructures in a liquid crystal solvent undergoing a phase transition. The final microstructures may have applications in a wide variety of fields such as health & medicine, technology, and renewable energy.

In 2015 Graduate students in the Hirst lab developed a process to direct the self-assembly of nanoparticles (NP) into micron scale hollow structures using the Isotropic-Nematic (I-N) phase transition of Liquid Crystals (LC) as a template [Riahinasab et al. 2019]. NPs are well dispersed in the disordered isotropic phase but are forced out of the emerging ordered nematic domains. I measure the growth of these ordered domains using high speed video of the phase transition. This gives us understanding into the fundamental physical principles guiding the spontaneous growth of ordered domains from the disordered phase and the self-assembly process. Additionally, the NPs eventually lock together in a stable microstructure. These final structures may have applications in a wide variety of fields such as health & medicine, technology, and renewable energy. I recently discovered a new NP microstructure morphology that resembles the packing of living cells in an organ. My long-term research goal is to use this self-assembly process to create dynamic scaffolding with tunable features from biologically favorable NPs that can be used to grow bioartificial tissues.