Julianne Simmchen

Exploring the Structure and Dynamics of (Active) Matter in presence of liquid-liquid interfaces

Colloids are a beautiful example of the unseen richness of our world, with structures ranging from simple spheres to complex hierarchical structures that have fascinated scientists for centuries. While physical chemistry has studied their dispersion behaviour, materials science, biology and chemical engineering have complemented these considerations. Physicists' interest in these small-scale objects has increased in recent decades with the advent of dynamical systems.

When tiny colloids are forced out of equilibrium, whether by catalytic processes, thermal effects or simple conjugation with biological objects, the resulting behaviour is fascinating and often offers unexpected parallels to the macroscopic world. We study both active and passive colloids in the presence of liquid interfaces, discovering rich behaviour despite the technical challenges of visualisation.