Abstract:

Droplet-based microfluidic systems are promising for biological and chemical reactions as they provide rapid mixing times, precise concentrations and manipulation of samples as individual packages. These systems have several lab on a chip applications such as analysis of biological samples and synthesis of nanomaterials for sensor technology. Droplets can be either manipulated on surfaces by creating energy gradients or they can be transported inside microchannels by using a carrier fluid. In the first part of this talk, synthesis of nanomaterials on surfaces within droplets will be discussed. In this technique, droplets can be moved selectively based on their volume and viscosity on textured surfaces without being inside a channel. The second part of this talk will focus on using droplet-based microfluidics to synthesize nanoparticles. These microfluidic reactors – or microreactors – show promise for the synthesis of nanoparticles with well controlled size, size distribution and shape. Compared to batch-wise synthesis techniques, microfluidic technology can provide precise control of the reaction conditions such as temperature, residence time and mixing ratio of reagents. In this talk synthesis of TiO2 and Fe304 nanoparticles will be discussed. Final part of this talk will introduce capillary origami as a technique for coating 3D curved surfaces with nanomaterials.

Short Biography of the Speaker:

Yegan Erdem received her Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, in May 2013 with minors in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering. During her doctoral studies, she worked on the development of microfluidic systems for controlled synthesis of nanoparticles in Prof. Albert Pisano and Prof. Fiona Doyle’s research laboratories. Dr. Erdem joined Bilkent University in 2013 as an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering Department. Her research interests include microfluidics, MEMS, nanomaterials, and nanosensors. She has published in journals such as IEEE MEMS, Advanced Materials, Small, Applied Physics Letters and Lab on a Chip. She was a recipient of the Jane Lewis Fellowship and Berkeley Mechanical Engineering Summer Fellowships. She also received the Turkish National Science Foundation (Tubitak) 2232 fellowship (2013), Tubitak Early Career Grant (2015) and Turkish Science Academy Young Scientist Award (2016).