Seminar Abstract: Technical challenges in healthcare engineering, precision medicine, and environmental remediation create an increasing demand for smart materials that can adapt their morphology and functionality to a large range of multiphase flow processes and biological conditions. Two major challenges are to precisely control this adaptability under dynamic conditions and provide predesigned functionalities that can be manipulated by external stimuli. We report on the computer-assisted design of a distinctive class of soft smart materials, built from armoured nanodroplets, able to selectively control self-fragmentation processes or encapsulate and release a probe load, depending on the specificity of the flow conditions. We discuss how smart droplets can be of relevance to tuning signalling pathways in mechanistic biology and to advance the design of multifunctional biomaterial for drug delivery and pathogen capture.

References

F. Sicard and J. Toro-Mendoza, ACS Nano 15, 11406–11416 (2021)

F. Sicard, J. Toro-Mendoza, and A. Striolo, ACS Nano 13, 9498-9503 (2019)

F. Sicard and A. Striolo, Nanoscale 9, 8567 (2017)

F. Sicard and A. Striolo, Faraday Discuss. 191, 287-304 (2016)

Biosketch: Dr François Sicard is a theoretical and computational physicist by training, currently working in the interdisciplinary Department of Arts and Sciences at University College London (UK). His research focuses on the in-silico design of biohybrid nanomaterials for healthcare and environmental remediation, employing machine learning-based simulations at both atomistic and mesoscopic scales. This includes the development of soft nanorobots for pathogen encapsulation (targeting bacteria and viruses) and the design of water desalination membranes. He is also interested in the conformational changes of biological systems, such as proteins and DNA macromolecules, and their implications for diseases. As part of his interdisciplinary work, he explores how insights from social health sciences can inform the technical design of innovative biohybrid materials.