Email: r.j.grant@bath.ac.uk
Currently
I am currently working in Steve Parker's group in Chemistry at the University of Bath. Working on a project to investigate the assembling properties of nanoparticles, I will initially develop rough candidate structures using MC techniques utilised during my PhD. Following on from this we will investigate how more accurate models of particle interactions affect final structures and assembly pathways.Here is a snapshot of octahedral particles assembling. Particles are hard (=> non-overlapping) and interact through patches positioned at the centers of faces. In initial investigations the interaction is a short range square well interaction.
Previously ...
PhD Student in the Condensed Matter Theory Group, (Physics) at the
I studied the dynamics of self-assembly with Rob Jack. We examined the evolution of simple systems designed to replicate the behaviour of more realistic physical systems. We have published two papers, one in collabration with Stephen Whitelam, summarising our measurements of microscopic reversibility and its role in self-assembly. A third paper is currently in preparation examiining assembly in a model system of patchy particles.
Research Interests
My research interests lie in non-equilibrium physics, how things do (or don't) change with a focus on self-assembly. In studying model systems of closed and extended structures I have sought to understand the factors which affect yield at different state points. In particular I have worked to quantify the role of reversibility and its importance in assembly. Microscopic reversibility has been qualitatively argued as a key component for self-assembly but a quantitative exposition is still lacking. We have considered measurements that quantify microscopic reversibility and related these to the underlying dynamics of systems. We have also investigated how these and other measurements can identify the irreversible nature at the macroscopic level on experimental timescales.
Publications
- Grant, J., Jack, R., Whitelam, S., Analyzing mechanisms and microscopic reversibility of self-assembly, J. Chem. Phys., 135, 214505 (2011) available here
- Grant, J., Jack, R., Quantifying reversibility in a phase-separating lattice gas: An analogy with self-assembly, Phys. Rev. E, 85, 021112 (2012) available here