From the Bottom Up: Self-Assembled One-Dimension Soft Materials – Jiyu Fang

Date: Mon. March 1st, 2010, 4:15 pm-5:15 pm
Location: Rockefeller 301

Molecular self-assembly mediated by noncovalent bonds is becoming increasingly popular as a “bottom up” approach in forming nano- and meso-scale soft materials. One of the most attractive aspects of this approach is the prospect of assembling structures with molecular precision under experimentally straightforward and inexpensive conditions. This talk will focus on self-assembled chiral lipid tubes, which are promising candidates for drug delivery vehicles. Three issues will be addressed in this talk. First, I will describe the interactions and mechanisms underling chiral lipid assembly based on the structural characterization of lipid tubes. Second, I will discuss the elasticity and buckling instability of lipid tubes under local radial indentation, which are critical in determining their suitability for practical applications. Third, I will describe the diffusion properties of several molecules inside lipid tubes to provide insight into the conditions for the controlled and sustained release of preloaded molecules.