Zhen-Gang Wang received his B.S. from Beijing University, and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Our research interests focus on the Physics of complex fluids, including polymers, surfactant solutions, microemulsions, liquid crystals, and Langmuir monolayers. Our approach involves both theoretical development and computer simulation using concepts and methods of modern statistical mechanics.
In contrast to simple fluids such as argon, complex fluids can exist in states that require extending our conventional definition of the states of matter. For, although on a microscopic level the structures are fluidlike, on a mesoscopic level the system can exhibit solidlike, long-range order. Examples are provided by diblock copolymer melts and micellized surfactant solutions, where the system can evolve from body-center-cubic-packed globules, through hexagonally packed cylinders, to stacked bilayers, as the temperature and/or composition is varied. A distinguishing feature common to many complex fluid systems is that the building blocks, i.e., the structural units, are aggregates of a large number of molecules with variable sizes and shapes. Consequently, these systems often exhibit unique thermal, optical acoustic, and rheological properties. Understanding the properties of these exotic states of matter is not only challenging intellectually but also important for their various applications, for example, as detergents, paints, artificial blood, and membranes.
Current projects under study include micro-domain structures in block copolymers, thermomechanical properties of complex fluid mesophases, adsorption and micellization of block copolymers, polymer liquid crystals, and dynamics and defects in Langmuir monolayers and magnetic films.
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