Colloidal liquid crystals
Liquid crystals are a fascinating state of matter that we encounter in our everyday life.
Research Projects
Colloidal suspensions, in which particles with a typical dimension ranging from a few nanometres to a few micrometres are dispersed in a molecular solvent, are ubiquitous in nature (e.g. mud, milk and blood). These types of materials find numerous applications in wide range of technological and industrial applications. Colloidal suspension are also widely accepted as a versatile model system for atoms and molecules as their rich phase behaviour is analogous to that of atomic and molecular systems.
Thermal-to-athermal systems
Using OCULI to investigate rotational dynamics.
Driven Systems
Driving colloids out of equilibrium.
Crystals and grain boundaries
Migration dynamics of grain boundaries.
Two-dimensional Systems
Optical Tweezing
Trapping and manipulating our colloids is central to many of our experiemnts.
Colloid Synthesis
Tailoring the chemical and physical properties of our colloids for our experiemnts.