Postdoctoral researcher
Email: browne1@seas.upenn.edu
website: chrisabrowne.wordpress.com

220 S 33rd St
Towne 345
Philadelphia, PA, 19104

Bio

2022: Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University

2019: M.A. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University

2017: B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

I currently study the nonequilibrium dynamics of liquid-liquid crystal phase separation. Liquid-liquid phase separation plays an important role in a wide range of material synthesis processes and in understanding cellular protein condensates. However, many of these fluids are composed of anisotropic or fibrous molecules, which drastically affect the dynamics of phase separation, which in some cases remain far from equilibrium.

During phase separation of a liquid crystal from an isotropic fluid, the elastic stresses associated with smectic alignment can drive the transient formation of filamentous and toroidal non-equilibrium structures. These structures grow rapidly, generating spontaneous flows and chaotic dynamics, which dictate the evolution to a terminal kinetically-trapped non-equilibrium structures. By understanding and controlling these dynamics, we hope to engineer novel microstructured materials, and understand how phase separation of anisotropic fluids might be utilized in nature to drive non-equilibrium processes.