Marino Xanthos Memorial Lecture Series

Interfacial Rheology: From Beer Foams to Materials Design

Jan Vermant
Department of Materials
ETH Zürich, Zürich Switzerland 

Monday, October 18, 2021
2:30 PM
Virtual Event (WebEx)

Click here to attend lecture via WebEx

Monday, Oct 18, 2021 2:30 pm | 2 hours | (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Event number: 2624 783 8770
Event password: LECTURE (5328873 from phones)

Join by phone
1-650-479-3207 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Access code: 262 478 38770

Abstract

The interfacial region between two fluids (or a fluid and a gas) has peculiar properties. Interface (or surface) tensions are well known emanations thereof. However, when surface active material accumulates in these regions, additional properties can emerge, which - when the interface is sharp enough - can be described by surface excess properties, such a surface viscosity or surface moduli.  Such properties emerge when lateral interaction between the surface active moieties are present and it leads to a more complex stress boundary condition with isotropic and extra (deviatoric) contributions. Ideas surrounding these properties have a long-standing scientific history, with Franklin, Plateau and Rayleigh being interested in how the surface stress boundary condition acts. In this work, inspired by differences in the drainage behavior observed in beer foams, between Swiss and Belgian beer, we will start to investigate this question a bit deeper.  We will discuss how the relevant material properties of these interfaces can be measured - which is more challenging than the bulk rheological properties due to different aspects, such as the coupling of bulk and interfacial flows or the interplay between compressibility and shear. The interplay between the different effects (capillarity, interfacial rheology and hydrodynamics) can be nicely studied in a dynamic thin film balance (DFTB). The understanding gained from experiments and simulations of the DTFB can be used to design interfaces which are interfacially rheologically active, and used to impart stability in unusual ways.

Biography

Jan Vermant studied chemical engineering at KU Leuven in Belgium, obtaining a doctoral degree in 1996 under the supervision of Professor Jan Mewis. He then was a postdoctoral fellow of Elf Aquitaine and the Fund for Scientific Research – Vlaanderen, which had him working at Stanford University with Professor Gerry Fuller, at CNRS labs in Sophia Antipolis (CEMEF) and Bordeaux (CRPP), at  the University of Delaware with Professor Norm Wagner and at KU Leuven in Belgium with Professors Mewis and Moldenaers. In 2000, he joined the faculty at the Department of Chemical Engineering at KU Leuven, becoming a full professor in 2005. In 2014, he joined the Department of Materials at the ETH Zürich, where he now heads the Laboratory of Soft Materials. He served as head of department from 2020-2021 and is a member of the universitywide Research Commission.

Professor Vermant has held visiting appointments at Stanford University, University of Delaware, Princeton University, the Forschungszentrum Jülich (G) and the ESPCI (F). Major Awards include a Dupont Young Faculty Award , the FWO-​ExxonMobil European Chemical Science & Engineering Award (EU), the Journal of Rheology Publication Award (twice), the Onsager Professorship and Onsager medal and the 2021 ECIS-Solvay Colloid and interface prize. He is the recipient of the 2019 Weissenberg Award of the European Society of Rheology and the 2021 Bingham medal of the U.S. Society of Rheology. He is a Fellow of  both the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the Society of Rheology. He was editor of Rheologica Acta for 10 years, from 2010-2020.

His research at the ETH Zürich focuses on the transport phenomena and rheology and applications of complex fluid-​fluid interfaces, with the development of new measurement techniques and methods of analysis being at the core of research. In the area of bulk rheological systems colloidal suspensions, emphasis is on relating shear-induced microstructures with rheological properties.  The development of superposition rheometry has created a new approach to studying microstructure during nonlinear flows. Novel processing methods have been designed, the understanding of the microstructural phenomena helping to make these energy efficient or able to, for example, print materials with higher resolution.

RSVP to Carolina Yanez by Monday, October 4, 2021; carolina.p.yanez@njit.edu or 973-596-6451.

About Marino Xanthos

Marino Xanthos, Ph.D. was a professor of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering.  Associate Provost for Graduate Studies, and Senior Technical Advisor to the Polymer Processing Institute (PPI) at NJIT until his passing in the summer of 2013.  Dr. Xanthos earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and master's and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto, where he studied under Professor R.T. Woodhams.  

After receiving his doctorate in 1974, he joined the research division of Martin Marietta Resources International, where he eventually rose to the position of Research, Development, and Technical Services Manager.  From 1980 to 1986 he served as professor and later as director of Stevens Institute of Technology overseas International Programs Office Department of polymer science, engineering and technology, jointly operated with the Algerian Petroleum Institute.  During the period of 1987 to 1995, he was the research director of the PPI and Stevens Research Professor.  He was appointed professor of chemical engineering at NJIT in 1995, where he served until his passing as Director of the Polymer Engineering Center, Director of the Center of Processing of Plastics Packaging, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Materials Research Council, Senior Technical Adviser to the PPI at NJIT, and finally Associate Provost for Graduate Studies.

Dr. Xanthos was internationally recognized for his polymer blends, polymer composites and polymer foams expertise, and his studies on polymer modification through the use of functional particulate additives and reactive extrusion processes, which he also applied to the processing of pharmaceutical oral dosage forms. His research work and publications involved Ph.D. and master's students at NJIT and Stevens.  He was also involved with PPI technical staff and industrial colleagues nationally and internationally in the solution of numerous important industrial problems.

Dr. Xanthos became a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) in 2003 and received the NJIT Board of Overseers Harlin J. Perlis Award that same year in recognition of his exemplary scholarship and outstanding research in the field of polymers.  He served as the U.S. representative to the Board of the Polymer Processing Society since 2005.  In 2010, he received the Heinz List Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Reactive Processing and Devolatilization.

Dr. Xanthos deeply cared for and was a renowned mentor and advisor to his graduate and undergraduate students.  For many years, he was the advisor and life force of the NJIT student chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).

This lecture series was established by his family, friends and colleagues to memorialize his accomplishments and love of his chosen field.
 

Previous Lectures

Plastics
What are they and could we live without them?

Frank S. Bates
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science 
University of Minnesota
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2020

Liquid Crystals - From Simple Self-Assembled Constructs, to Autonomous Materials​

Juan de Pablo Ph.D.
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
University of Chicago
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2019

Functional Polymer Materials Designed for Advanced Applications and Sustainability

Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering
Texas A&M University
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2018
  

Engineered Silk Proteins for Regenerative Medicine

David L. Kaplan, Ph.D.
Stern Family Endowed Professor of Engineering
Professor & Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Distinguished University Professor
Tufts University
Director, NIH P41 Resource Center on Tissue Engineering
Editor-in-Chief, ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2017

Breaking Moore's Law, 

Thomas P. Russell, Ph.D.
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2016

The Unusual Rheology of Concentrated Suspensions

Morton M. Denn, Ph.D.
Benjamin Levich Institute, City College of New York
Xanthos Memorial Lecture Program 2015