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David
T. Wu
Associate Professor
AB
Harvard University,
Department of Chemistry
PhD University of
California at Berkeley,
Department of Chemistry
Postdoctoral study at
Cambridge University,
Cavendish Laboratory
and University of California
at Santa Barbara,
Department of Chemical Engineering and
Materials Research Laboratory
Theory and simulation of complex materials including polymers and powders; complex fluids; phase equilibria; controlled self-assembly
Research
Description
Technological and scientific advances in complex materials present many
exciting challenges for the theoretician working in chemical engineering
or chemistry. More than ever before, fundamental knowledge and control
of microstructure can translate directly into materials with novel and
superior properties. I believe a combination of analytical theory and
computational research can be a highly effective way to acquire an understanding
of these diverse materials. My research approach draws widely from both
statistical mechanics and modern computational methods and is concerned
with a broad range of materials. I am currently pursuing research in four
areas:
1. Conformational Effects in Conducting Polymers. Conducting polymer technology has progressed steadily in recent years. Conducting polymers offer the processing and material advantages of polymers and the optical and electrical properties of metals. Significant advances in this area include the ability to lay thin films of the conducting polymer and to create highly aligned samples - both of these underscore the utility of controlling microstructure. I am developing theoretical models for understanding the interplay of geometrical surface and polymer/polymer effects with conformational and conductive properties.
2. Statistical Mechanics of Powders. Although powders are receiving renewed attention as a subject of fundamental microscopic theory, the industrial importance of this ubiquitous form of solid matter continues to grow. With negligible thermal motion, the static properties of a powder provide the key for many transport and rheological properties. For this reason, I am developing statistical mechanical approaches to understand the role of particle morphology, packing, and hysteresis in determining bulk properties.
3. Algorithms for Direct Simulation of Solid-Phase Coexistence. A rudimentary knowledge of the phase diagram of a system is indispensable in many processes, such as separation or catalysis. Despite continuing theoretical advances, phase equilibria involving solids is modeled primarily by simulation. However, current algorithms are highly inefficient or impractical. I am developing general algorithms that are expected to be of extensive use for solid phase coexistence.
4. Viral Morphogenesis: Programmed Self-Assembly. While surfactant self-assembly (for example, into vesicles or sheets) has served as a model for understanding molecular self-assembly, extensions to viral self-assembly not only promise a wider range of structures, but also carry the functional and structural benefits of genetic control through molecular biology. My research, involving theory and simulation, is aimed at elucidating the physical and mechanical role of subunit polymorphology in determining the final assembled structure.
Click here (2.1MB) for one minute with Professor Wu (requires)
Contact
Information
David T. Wu
429 Alderson Hall
Chemical Engineering Department
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401-1887
Office:
(303) 384-2066 or 384-2024
FAX: (303) 273-3730
or
156 Coolbaugh
Hall
Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401-1887
Office:
(303) 384-2066
FAX: (303) 273-3629
dwu@mines.edu
