Introduction to Complex Fluids (CLL771)

Semester I: 2020-2021

Instructor: Shalini Gupta

Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Office - Block II-282
Email: shalinig@chemical.iitd.ac.in

Class hours: M, T, F: 12 to 12:50 PM (J Slot)

Lecture mode: - 36 lectures to be covered in synchronous mode as much as possible

- 6 lectures to be covered in asynchronous mode due to reduced semester duration

Brief description of course: The first part of this course will cover the fundamentals of colloidal
interactions between surfaces, particles, surfactants, liquid crystals, polymers and biomolecules. The second
part will focus on the principles of self-assembly and colloidal manipulation by external fields. In the third
part, we will discuss applications in microfluidics, micropatterning, bioarrays and nanostructured materials.

Course objectives: To introduce the students to the wonderful and exciting world of soft matter (if you are
a chemist) or complex fluids (if you are an engineer) or soft condensed matter (if you are a physicist). The
course will teach you the following:
 To develop a flavour for different forms of soft matter – colloids, polymers, gels, liquid crystals,
surfactants and biomolecules
 To identify the intermolecular and surface forces acting in various nanoscale systems and be able to
develop quantitative estimates of the strength and magnitude of these forces.
 To understand the principles of nanoscale assembly, and their applications, advantages and
limitations in technology.
 To develop solutions to scientific and technological problems in colloidal and microfabricated
systems by application of the theory of colloidal interactions.
 To apply electric-field based techniques for characterization and manipulation of colloidal
nanoparticles for different applications
 To know the latest concepts in the microfabrication, microfluidics and nanotechnology.

Reference text:
• Intermolecular and surface forces by J. Israelachvili
• The colloidal domain by D. F. Evans and H. Wennerstrom
• Soft condensed matter by R. A. L. Jones
• Polymer physics by M. Rubenstein and R. H. Colby
• Principles of biochemistry by A. L. Leninger, M. M. Cox and D. L. Nelson
• Selected representative papers from all science areas covered in the class will be available for
download from the class web resource. The students are encouraged to read them to see examples of
the application of the class material to current research and to widen their knowledge in the area.

Optional reading resources for additional information:

• Introduction to soft matter by I. W. Hamley
• Soft matter – complex colloidal suspensions by G. Gompper and M. Schick (editors)
• Life’s devices – the physical world of animal and plants by S. Vogel
• Soft matter characterization by R. Borsali and R. Pecora (editors)
• BioMEMS – science and engineering perspective by S. Badilescu and M. Packirisamy
• Soft Machines – nanotechnology and life by R. A. L. Jones
• AC Electrokinetics: Colloids and nanoparticles by H. Morgan and N. Green

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Evaluation policy:

Class participation: 5 marks

Minor: 10 marks
Major: 35 marks
Paper reading assignments: 20 marks (4 marks per paper)
Problem solving assignments: 10 marks
Class presentation: 8 marks
Term paper: 12 marks

- Minimum pass requirement on credit basis (‘D’ grade) and on audit basis (‘NP’ grade) is 30 marks
(30%).
- In case you miss your minor exam, it will be reheld in a live quiz mode with the instructor.
- Each act of cheating/plagiarism will lead to 0 marks for that event and lowering of the overall grade by
one unit.
- All medical related issues must be notified to the instructor via email immediately. Late reporting of
illness (even with a medical certificate) may not be entertained.

Class presentations: The class will include 4 discussion sessions on recent trends and developments in
nanoscience of soft materials. Each student will pick one topic for one of the discussion sessions and will
prepare a 10-min presentation on the problem and current state of the art in the field. A list of suggested (but
not obligatory) papers will be made available to the class on impartus. These papers available for download
could be used as a starting base for preparation of the discussion.

Short-term paper guidelines:

• The goal of this assignment is to train students in applying the material from the class in problems
related to their research interests. The individual topics will be suggested by the students and
finalized in discussion with the instructor.
• The students should seek out a few relevant recent papers and perform a critical review of how this
material can be applied to their field of research. They are encouraged to include in the text
estimates, expressions, qualitative or quantitative graphs, figures and schemes.
• Copying/repeating of material from papers or WWW can be done only with acknowledgement of, or
referring to, the source. Even then, content should be re-written in your own words and not partly
edited.
• The length of the text, including the reference list should not exceed 5 typed pages. This could be
supplemented with up to 5 pages of figures and other supporting material, which however should be
clearly numbered, captioned, and referred to in the text.
• The short term paper will be graded for:
(1) Clear and concise description of the aim, background and suggested work.
(2) Critically evaluating a few relevant references from the recent literature.
(3) Presenting or suggesting an appropriate solution, estimation, numerical procedure or experiment.
(4) Technical quality of the text and graphical material.

Lecture topic layout

1. Introduction to types of soft matter systems
2. Surface thermodynamics and interfacial tension
3. Contact angle, wetting and capillary phenomena
4. Surfactants and micelle formation
5. Surfactant phase equilibria and thermodynamics
6. Adsorption isotherms
7. Langmuir-Blodgett layers, bilayers and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs)
Discussion 1: Wetting, capillarity, SAMS and surface engineering
8. Molecular forces overview, self-diffusion and Brownian motion
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9. Interactions of polar and dipolar molecules, dispersion forces
10. Van der Waals forces between surfaces and particles
11. Electrostatics 1: Basics
12. Electrostatics 2: Effect of electrolyte and DLVO theory
13. Colloidal interactions not described by DLVO theory
14. Biomolecular systems
15. Interactions between biological molecules
16. Bioarrays and biocolloids
Discussion 2: DLVO, non-DLVO and biomolecular interactions in nanostructure fabrication
17. Electrophoresis and zeta potential
18. Electro-osmosis and streaming potential
19. Dielectrophoresis
20. Microfluidics: Fundamentals
21. Microfluidics: Applications
22. Microfabrication techniques
23. Optical phenomena and microscopy techniques for soft matter visualization
24. Scattering methods: Light, X-ray and neutron scattering
Discussion 3: Use of external fields in nanostructure characterization, manipulation and lab-on-a-chip
25. Liquid crystals and their classifications
26. Liquid crystal phase transitions
27. Polymer characteristics
28. Fundamentals of polymer physics
29. Polymer reaction mechanisms and synthesis
30. Gelation and hydrogels
31. Composite functional nanomaterials
32. Self-assembly of photonic and electronic materials
Discussion 4: Nanoscale engineering of liquid crystals and polymers
33. Review; Discussion of nanoscience perspectives and entrepreneurial opportunities

Motto: The first principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught. The teacher is not an instructor or a
taskmaster; she is simply a helper and a guide. – Sri Aurobindo