Theoretical physics, theory in soft matter, computer simulations
Contact
Objectives
The aim of this project is to understand the interactions of lipid membranes with nano-objects including functional biomimetic polymers, polymeric micelles, carbon nanotubes and polymer therapeutic complexes/conjugates to enable the intelligent design of novel materials with improved bilayer modifying properties. A full range of theoretical methods will be employed to improve our understanding of interactions between phospholipid bilayers and nano-objects. An ambitious goal will be the implementation of a multi-scale computational approach that will allow the use of the same coarse grained model in different techniques. Development of the Single Chain Mean Field model of interaction of lipid bilayers with nanoparticles and polymers. The method gives direct access to the equilibrium free energy which is hardly accessible by other simulation techniques, in particular, the energy of insertion of nano-objects.
Tasks and methodology
- Development of theoretical tools to understand interaction of lipid bilayers with nano-objects.
- Prediction of optimal structures of nano-objects synthesized in the network for their interaction with lipid bilayers.
- Implementation of parallel computation technique using graphical cards (CUDA programming)
Starting date
1 October 2014
Related research topics
- Interaction of peptides and proteins with membranes
- Self-assembly of interpolyelectrolyte complexes and their interaction with lipid membranes
- Translocation of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and polymers through bilayers
- Polymer micelles as drug carriers
- Permeability of lipid bilayers induced by polymers
