Title：Self-assembled Toroidal-Spiral Particles and Polymeric Nanoparticles
Speaker：Dr.Ying Liu,Assistant Professor，Assistant Professor，Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences，University of Illinois at Chicago
Time： 2:30 Pm, Mon, Dec 19, 2011
Place: Room 205, Bldg 14, SCUT North Campus
Sponsor: School of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract：
Self-assembly processes are appealing: just mix the components, and the forces of nature will assemble them into a desired structure. In my research group, we have constructed self-assembled particles with desired structures and surface functionalities at scales from nanometer to millimeter. In this presentation, the self-assembly processes to make Toroidal-Spiral particles (TSP) and polymeric nanoparticles (PNP) will be demonstrated. TSPs were generated under the competitive kinetics of viscous sedimentation flow, diffusion, and polymer cross-linking. TSPs were formed and loaded with proteins entirely within the aqueous phase under benign conditions to preserve delicate macromolecular conformations of the proteins and thereby maximize their bioactivity and bioavailability. PNPs encapsulating hydrophobic drugs and imaging agents present unique opportunities for treatment of cancers, for aerosol drug deliver, and as a route to novel vaccine adjuvants. However, many processes to make PNPs suffer from low drug loading and broad particle-size distribution. Our process, Flash NanoPrecipitation, is a self-assembly process, the key to which is the control of time scales for micromixing, polymer micellization, and particle nucleation and growth. Uniform particles with tunable sizes from 50-500 nm and high drug loading were prepared in an economical and scalable manner by employing Flash NanoPrecipitation.

Introduction to Dr.Ying Liu： 
 Dr.Ying Liu received her B. Eng. in department of engineering mechanics of Tsinghua University in 2001, and Ph. D. in Chemistry at University of Illinois at Chicago  in 2007.Now she is an assistant professor at Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences in University of Illinois at Chicago