Research

Research Overview: We have broad research interests in the fields of colloids, macromolecules and soft matter, and their applications in solving engineering challenges. WU lab focuses on investigating the interactions between macromolecules, nanoparticles, and other soft matter materials with confined environments during complex dynamic chemical, biological and environmental processes. From there, rationally design materials and optimize processes with the aid of artificial intelligence and automated experimental platform to solve the grand engineering challenges.

Thrust I: Single-Moleclue/Particle Tracking to Probe Transport in Complex Environments

Transport of nanoparticle, macromolecules and other soft matter materials in complex and confined environments is essential to various application scenarios, including membrane filtration, drug delivery and environmental remediation. The conventional methods, such as NMR and dynamic light scattering, only investigate these in a ensemble level, which neglected the underlying microscopic mechanisms. To address this, we have developed a high-throughput 3D single-molecule/particle to probe transport in various complex environments. Below, we have demonstrated two examples to investigate transport phenomena using this approach.

Case 1: Investigating micro/nanomotors in confined environments

Micro/nanoswimmers convert diverse energy sources into directional movement, demonstrating significant promise for biomedical and environmental applications, many of which involve complex, tortuous, or crowded environments. We investigated the transport behavior of self-propelled catalytic Janus particles in a complex interconnected porous void space, where the rate-determining step involves the escape from a cavity and translocation through holes to adjacent cavities. Surprisingly, self-propelled nanoswimmers escaped from cavities more than 20× faster than passive (Brownian) particles, despite the fact that the mobility of nanoswimmers was less than 2× greater than that of passive particles in unconfined bulk liquid.

Case 2: Visualizing membrane filtration processes

Fouling of filtration membranes is a key process that degrades performance and reduces membrane lifetime. Nevertheless, obtaining direct information about fouling mechanisms is still a significant challenge, especially fouling that occurs within the internal pore spaces. We combined highly multiplexed single-particle tracking methods with alternating laser excitation, which allowed the direct visualization of the transport of nanoparticles within microfiltration membranes.

Thrust II: Artificial Intelligence Aided Inverse Design of Soft Matter Materials

To tackle pressing global challenges in areas such as biomedicine, robotics, energy, and climate, the invention of new materials have emerged as a crucial factor. However, the traditional process of material design relies heavily on intuition-driven approaches and time-consuming trial-and-error strategies. This outdated paradigm is hindered by the intrinsic complexity and nonlinearity of the design process, limiting our ability to efficiently discover innovative materials that meet the diverse demands of modern society. A central challenge in material design lies in understanding the intricate and nonlinear relationships between a material's molecular structure and its bulk properties. To address this, we define a new paradigm in which structure-process-property relationship can provide a tool for screening candidate materials by first understanding how the initial molecular structure defines its native properties, but then how they may transform during fabrication; the ideal materials showcase a transformation of the property space closer to the desired property set.

Overview of using AI to design materials from molecular level to macroscopic level

High-throughput platform to screen reaction conditions using automatic system

Automated Parallel Reactors

Automated lab driven by AI