The Sadati lab pursues a bottom-up approach to study the structure, dynamics, and self-assembly of soft materials, with an emphasis on anisotropic components capable of leading to new, tunable macroscopic properties. Through systematic studies of self-assembly, topological defects, and real-time structure and rheology, we engineer responsive materials with unique architectural features designed for a broad range of applications including tissue engineering, actuation, drug delivery, controlled cargo transport, and biosensing.
Current Researches
Blue Phase (BP) Liquid Crystals
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BPs are chiral liquid crystals, that exhibit cubic-crystalline symmetries with submicronic lattice parameters, which allows them to show Bragg refraction of visible light. BP molecules locally organize into double twisted cylinders, which can assemble to form BPI with a body-centered-cubic (bcc) symmetry and BPII with a simple-cubic (sc) symmetry. Experimentally, BPs are obtained by mixing nematic liquid crystals with a chiral dopant. The unique hybrid liquid-order properties of BP soft crystals make them ideal candidates for photonics, material design, biosensing and drug delivery applications. They are, however, stable at narrow temperature range. We explore the effect of chemical and physical and geometrical stimuli on the lattice spacing of BPs and the resulting optical appearance, which are exploited to design responsive materials with applications in photonic and biosensing. In addition, we attempt hybrid strategies to expand the stability temperature of BP structures.
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3D Printing of Anisotropic Soft Materials: In-situ Characterization, Process Optimization, and Material Design
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3D printing of soft matter offers a versatile platform for the fabrication of cost-effective and customized products for a wide range of applications including architecture, fashion, soft robotics, and medicine. Our goal is to achieve a precise control over the manufacturing process through optimization of structural properties and processing conditions. We employ diverse characterization techniques, including velocimetry and Rheo-optics to understand the flow-induced microstructures and alignments. Inspired by intricate architectures made by living organisms, this fundamental information is used to design complex 3D printed architectures with locally tuned (microstructure) physical properties and responsiveness.
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