Transport Phenomena Laboratory

Director: Johannes M. Nitsche

Theoretical and experimental research addresses basic problems in the micromechanical processes underlying equilibrium distribution and transport of small molecules and ions, macromolecules, and colloidal particles inside pores, near surfaces, and within flows. Special emphasis is placed on detailed understanding of the effects of nonspherical molecular shapes, electrostatic forces, hydrodynamic phenomena, and molecular rotation and alignment. At the Transport Phenomena Laboratory, these developments are applied to the engineering of separations processes, immobilized protein systems, and biosensors; the understanding of protein binding and bioadhesion processes; and physiological and biomedical problems relating to molecular transport between living cells.