Departments and Institutes
Research Interests
My group develops new materials using self-assembly and controlled aggregation processes. In particular, we use DNA functionalized colloids to design porous gels for applications in photonics and new battery materials. Further, we study the mechanical properties of protein gels. Our interdisciplinary research combines experimental physics, physical chemistry, and biochemistry, as well as simulations.
Key Publications
L. Di Michele, E. Eiser, V. Fodera, ‘Minimal Model for the Self-catalysis in the Formation of Amyloid-like Elongated Fibrils’, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 4, 3158 (2013).
L. Di Michele, F. Varrato, J. Kotar, S.H. Nathan, G. Foffi, E. Eiser, ‘Multistep kinetic self-assembly of DNA-coated colloids’, Nature Communications, 4:2007, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3007 (2013).
F. Varrato, L. Di Michele, M. Belushkin, N. Dorsaz, S.H. Nathan, E. Eiser, G. Foffi, ‘Arrested demixing: from gels to bigels’, PNAS, doi 10.1073 (2012).
L. Di Michele, T. Yanagishima, A. R. Brewer, J. Kotar, E. Eiser and S. Fraden, “Interactions between colloids induced by a soft cross-linked polymer substrate.” Phys. Rev. Lett., 107, 136101 (2011).
A. Kumachev, J. Greener, E. Tumarkin, E. Eiser, and E. Kumacheva, “High throughput generation of hydrogel beads with varying elasticity enabling cell differentiation” BioMaterials, 32, 1477-1483 (2011).
T. Yanagishima, D. Frenkel, J. Kotar, and E. Eiser, “Real-time monitoring of complex moduli from micro-rheology”, J.Phys.: Condens. Matter, 23, 194118 (2011)