High resolution studies of biomolecular interfaces. We develop and use state-of-the-art techniques for fabricating and characterizing interface structures in particular model membranes. Our lab has developed spincoating for fabrication of supported membranes and has discovered orientational texture in lipid bilayers. We are interested in a broad range of colloid and interface phenomena having both fundamental and applied relevance.
Examples of research topics: Membrane repair and membrane curvature, domain formation in membranes, membrane texture, protein-lipid interactions, food biophysics and dairy science, wetting and capillary phenomena, composite materials. Techniques: Atomic force microscopy (AFM), force-spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, imaging ellipsometry. Development of new image analysis algorithms. New sample types. Design and construction of experimental equipment.