Polymer physics driven design and understanding of biological materials
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Polymers make up much of the world around us, from man-made materials like plastics and nylon to natural biological materials like mucus and DNA, and their physical behavior plays a large role in their function. Understanding how a polymer's composition can influence its final bulk physical behavior and function is crucial to creating novel classes of materials for new application spaces. Additionally, in the context of biology, knowing what structure-property relationships exist for biopolymer-based fluids can explain how and when there is a dysfunction. For example, the rheological properties of mucus, which lines every wet epithelial surface of our bodies, are carefully tuned to be a selective barrier to allow nutrients through and keep pathogens out, and small changes in elasticity could lead to infection. Connecting microscopic properties of a polymer chain to the macroscale physics of the polymeric material, however, still remains a challenge. In my dissertation, I present theoretical polymer physics models that link molecular-level parameters to predictions of bulk rheological behavior and combine these models with experimental techniques to develop a physical understanding of polymer-based complex biological fluids. I then demonstrate how this understanding can be leveraged to support certain therapeutic strategies.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Cai, Pamela |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Heilshorn, Sarah |
| Degree supervisor | Spakowitz, Andrew James |
| Thesis advisor | Heilshorn, Sarah |
| Thesis advisor | Spakowitz, Andrew James |
| Thesis advisor | Fuller, Gerald G |
| Thesis advisor | Qin, Jian ǂc (Professor of Chemical Engineering) |
| Degree committee member | Fuller, Gerald G |
| Degree committee member | Qin, Jian ǂc (Professor of Chemical Engineering) |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Engineering |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Chemical Engineering |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Pamela C. Cai. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Chemical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/cy376jx6178 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Pamela Cai
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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