Lipid-based Mesophases

Diffusion in Porous Media

Lipid-based Mesophases

Self-assembly of lipid-water at certain physical conditions result in intricate three-dimensional complex networks with two congruent regions. More interestingly, the interpenetrating but non-communicating water channels render unique labyrinthine path. Such structures are alternatively called, Inverse Bicontinucous Cubic Phases (IBCPs) as subset of lipid-based mesophases. They can offer several symmetries of gyroid, diamond and primitive.

Polymer Physics

Diffusion in Porous Media

Lipid-based Mesophases

At the core of polymer science, polymer physics indebted to De Gennes and Flory still remains a big enigma when it comes to observe the dynamics of polymers under certain confinements. Such issues have been addressed by several researchers by investigating the physics of polymer dynamics in distinct confined media.

Diffusion in Porous Media

Rheology of Complex Fluids/Computational Fluid Dynamics

Submission of molecules with tune-able sizes and structure inside a pore-network and in specific IBCPs, can unravel the dominating criteria in transport process in light of the interplay between the structure/size of the diffusing molecule with the symmetry of porous network.

Rheology of Complex Fluids/Computational Fluid Dynamics

Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of Polymers Blends

Rheology of Complex Fluids/Computational Fluid Dynamics

Material functions of complex fluids play important role in characterizing their behavior in technological and industrial applications. While the rheological behvaior of lipid-based mesophases can play as a finger-print to determine their structural alternations, similar approach can better help to elucidate the processing behavior of polymer solutions/melts. The latter case has been tackled with understanding the instability pattern of the polymeric liquids with emphasis on thermo-elastic interplay in regulating the onset of turbulence.

Polymers at Interfaces

Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of Polymers Blends

Interfacial tension plays an important role in determining the morphology of polymer pairs during processing by controlling the compatibility. Several dynamic or static techniques enable us to estimate interfacial properties of polymer melts in terms of interfacial tension and that leads to better elucidate the final mechanical properties of a certain polymer blend.

Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of Polymers Blends

Polymer blends are ubiquitous in several technological applications where they offer favorable mechanical, physical, and interfacial properties.

As an example, the PC/ABS polymer blends have turned out to be a material with improved heat resistance and processability used in electronics, telecommunication, and automotive industries.

On the other hand, interfacial tension plays an important role in determining the morphology of polymer pairs during processing by controlling the compatibility. Several dynamic or static techniques can be used to analyze the interfacial properties of polymer melts leading to achieve improved mechanical properties.

Laboratory/Software Skills

Laboratory Skills

Rotational Rheometer: Investigated rheological properties of different complex fluids

Small-Angle X-ray scattering (SAXS): Used for structural characterization of lyotropic liquid crystals

Atomic Force Microscope: Investigated structural features of block copolymers

Thermo-solvent Annealing: Analyzed processing conditions of block copolymer thin films

Fluorimetry and UV-vis Spectroscopy : Quantified different solutions with varying concentrations

Zeta Potential Sizer: Analyzed the polydispersity in colloidal systems

Dynamic Light Scattering: Analyzed the poyldispersity and the diffusion coefficient in polymer suspensions

Diffusive Wave Spectroscopy: Analyzed the micro-rheological behavior of Lyotrpic Liquid Crystals

Izod Test Apparatus; Tensile Test Apparatus: Evaluated the mechanical properties of PC/ABS polymer blends

Spinning Drop and Pendant Drop Apparatuses : Designed and constructed the Spinning Drop Appartus and measured interfacial tension of PC/ABS, PC/SAN and PC/PE polymer pairs

Coaxial Cylinders Viscometer, Brookfield Viscometer; Rheometer : Evaluated the rheological properties of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals)

FTIR spectroscopy: Characterized proteins

Optical Rotary Dispersion: Quantified glucose solutions

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Quantified Gold Nanoparticle solution

Software Skills

C: Implemented linear stability analysis for the unidirectional shear flow of plane Couette flow of polymer solutions)

FORTRAN: Implemented linear stability analysis for Taylor-Couette flow of polymer solutions

PYTHON: Used in the graduate course of Material and Molecular Modeling

MATLAB: Modeled a stability analysis problem for the graduate course of Advanced Mathematics plus modeling diffusion-related phenomena; used it for several other fields and in particular, solving a system of partial differential equations and ordinary differential equations

High-Performance Computing: Implemented Message Passing Interface for QR factorization via Gram-Schmidt Method and solving 2D diffusion/heat problem

TECPLOT: Sketched professional graphs for my research

LATEX: Used for writing proposals and articles

ILLUSTRATOR: Used to sketch 3D objects and improved visualization in distinctive experimental and theoretical concepts

HOUDINI FX GRAPHIC SOFTWARE: Used to grasp clear view on physical phenomena in a three-dimensional view

AUTODESK INVENTOR: Designed measuring geometries of rotational rheometer (basic designs)

Selected Publications

Journal Papers

Reza Ghanbari, Salvatore Assenza, Abhijit Saha, Raffaele Mezzenga, “Diffusion of polymers through periodic networks of lipid-based nanochannels”, Langmuir , 33, 2017, 3491−3498 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00437

Chiara Speziale, Reza Ghanbari, Raffaele Mezzenga, “Rheology of ultra-swollen bicontinuous lipid cubic phases”, Langmuir, 2018, 34, 5052-5059 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b00737

Reza Ghanbari, Salvatore Assenza, Raffaele Mezzenga, “The interplay of channel geometry and molecular features determine diffusion in lipidic cubic phases”, Journal of Chemical Physics, 150, 094901 (2019) https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5080929

Reza Ghanbari, Salvatore Assenza, Patrick Züblin, Raffaele Mezzenga, “The impact of molecular partitioning and partial equilibration on the estimation of diffusion coefficients from release experiments”, Langmuir, 35, 16, 5663-5671, 2019

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b00510

Salvatore Assenza, Reza Ghanbari*, Luca M. Antognini and Raffaele Mezzenga, "Multiple dynamic regimes in polymer diffusion within cubic phases." In preparation. *shared first co-authorship

L. Sagalowicz, C. Moccand, T. Davidek, R.Ghanbari, I. Martiel, R. Negrini, R. Mezzenga, M.E. Leser, I. Blank, M. Michel, “Lipid self-assembled structures for reactivity control in food”, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, 374, 2016, 2072 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsta.2015.0136

Reza Ghanbari, Bamin Khomami, “The onset of purely elastic and thermo-elastic instabilities in Taylor- Couette flow: Influence of gap ratio and fluid thermal sensitivity”, J. Non-Newt. Fluid Mech., 208, 2014,108-117 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377025714000718?via%3Dihub

H.Javidnia, N.Mohammadi, A.M.Shoushtari, S.Ghasemirad, T.Farajpour, M. R. Ghanbari,“The effect of Butyl Glycol Acetate/Ethyl Acetate mixed solvents composition on Nitrocellulose solution emulsification: the stability of resultant colloid and micro-filterability”, Iranian Journal of Polymer,19 (5), 2010, 323-332 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Somayeh_Ghasemirad/publication/228481238_The_Effect_of_Butyl_Glycol_AcetateEthyl_Acetate_Mixed_Solvents_Composition_on_Nitrocellulose_Solution_Emulsification_The_Stability_of_Resultant_Colloid_and/links/559900da08ae5d8f39340233.pdf

Reza Ghanbari,Doha Abdelrahman, S. Narjes Abdollahi, Matthias Saba, Cédric Kilchoer, Ilja Gunkel, Bodo Wilts, Ullrich Steiner, “3D phases in soft matter: from self-assembly to templated functional materials”, under preparation

Reza Ghanbari, Hamid Garmabi, “The influence of temperature, compatibilizer and butadiene content rubber on interfacial tension of PC/ABS polymer melt”, submitted

Presentations

Reza Ghanbari, Bamin Khomami, “The onset of purely elastic and thermo-elastic instabilities in Taylor-Couette flow as a function of gap ratio and fluid thermal sensitivity”, The Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC), Apr. 2021, Cyberspace

Sajjad Pashazadeh, Reza Ghanbari, Erik Stenvall, Tobias Moberg, Andres Brolin, Roland Kádár, “Wall slippage and the rheological properties of highly filled polymer biocomposites: experiments versus numerical simulations”, AERC, Apr. 2021, Cyberspace

Reza Ghanbari, Raffaele Mezzenga, “Polymer diffusion across lipidic nanochannels”, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft- Physik, Mar. 2020, Dresden, Germany

Reza Ghanbari, Bamin Khomami, “The instability onset behavior of viscoelastic Taylor-Couette flow as a combined function of flow geometry and rheological parameters: purelyelastic versus thermo-elastic instabilities”, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft- Physik, Mar. 2020, Dresden, Germany

Reza Ghanbari, Karolina Godlewska, Narjes Adbollahi, Doha Abdelrahman, Ilja Gunkel, Ullrich Steiner, “The pathway to achieve true 3D order in gyroid terpolymer films”, Bioinspired Materials Meeting, Oct. 2019, Monte Verita, Switzerland

Reza Ghanbari, Salvatore Assenza, Patrick Züblin, Raffaele Mezzenga, “The interplay of channel geometry and molecular features determines diffusion in lipidic cubic phase”, Swiss Chemical Society, Sep. 2019, University of Zürich, Switzerland

Reza Ghanbari, "Impact of Molecular Partitioning and Partial Equilibration on the Estimation of Diffusion Coefficients from Release Experiments”, Swiss Soft Days 25, Aug. 2019, Nestlé Research Center, Switzerland”, Swiss Soft Days 25, Aug. 2019, Nestlé Research Center, Switzerland

Reza Ghanbari, “Diffusion of polymers through periodic networks of lipid-based nanochannels”, Self-Organization in Active Matter: from Colloids to Cell (Statistical Physics), Erice, Italy, Oct 2018

Reza Ghanbari, Raffaele Mezzenga, “Diffusion of polymers through periodic networks of lipid-based nanochannels”, American Physical Society(APS) Meeting, Los Angeles, Mar. 2018, Los Angeles, California, USA

Reza Ghanbari, Renata Negrini, Raffaele Mezzenga, “Controlling molecular transport in lipid-based mesophases with tunable water channels”, SOMATAI (Soft Matter at Aqueous Interfaces) Summer School, Coordinated by Jülich Forschungszentrum, Aug. 2014, Berlin, Germany

M.R.Ghanbari, H.Garmabi, “Optimization of mechanical properties of PC/ABS blend using Taguchi method of experimental design: effect of Butadiene content and SEBS-g-MAH compatibilizer”, Polymer Processing Society 26 (PPS 26), Jul. 2010, Banff, Canada

M.R.Ghanbari, H.Garmabi, “Investigation of PC/ABS blends mechanical properties dependency on butadiene, SEBS-g-MAH and order of feeding using Taguchi method”, Polymerfest, Aug.-Sep. 2009, University of Palermo, Italy

M.R.Ghanbari, H.Garmabi, “Effects of temperature, Butadiene and compatibilization on interfacial tension of PC/ABS pairs using Spinning Drop Apparatus”, Polymer Process Society 2009, Oct. 2009, Larnaca, Cyprus

Moghri Mehdi, Ghanbari Mohammad Reza, Saeb Mohammad Reza, Zare Yaser, “Investigation of the Effect of Formulation Ingredients on Rheological Properties of PVC Compounds using Taguchi Method of Experimental Design”, The Polymer Processing Society 24th Annual Meeting, Jun. 2008, Salerno, Italy

M.R.Ghanbari, H.Garmabi, “Effects of temperature, Butadiene and compatibilization on interfacial tension of PC/ABS pairs using Spinning Drop Apparatus”, PPS 2009, Oct. 2009, Larnaca, Cyprus

Mohammadreza Ghanbari, H.Garmabi, “Developing a relationship to predict the molecular weight dependency of Flory-Huggins interaction parameter in order to improve the predictability of interfacial tension of polymer melts by theoretical methods”, 58th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conf., Oct 2008, Ottawa, Canada

E.Behzadfar, M.R. Ghanbari, F.Sharif , H.Nazockdast, “A comparative study on fragmentation functions and their effect on the prediction of particle size distribution”, International Conference on Advances in Polymer Science and Technology, Nov. 2008, New Delhi, India

M.Moghri, H.Garmabi, M.R.Ghanbari, “Study of some material parameters on rheological properties of PVC compounds using Taguchi method of experimental design”, International Conference on Advances in Polymer Science and Technology, Nov. 2008, New Delhi, India

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