IMX Colloquium - Probing the nanoscale structure and dynamics or solid-liquid interfaces: from minerals to complex biological membranes

Liquid molecules tend to behave differently at the surface of immersed solids compared to when in bulk liquid. This gives ‘interfacial liquid’ the ability to influence countless nanoscale processes, from the self-assembly of molecules and ions, to controlling local electrostatics, molecular transfer and in lubrication.
Using bespoke experimental approaches based atomic force microscopy, it is possible to map the equilibrium organisation and local dynamics of liquids near surfaces with nanoscale precision. The results, complemented by computer simulations, show an interplay between local molecular organisation and the emergence of mesoscale phenomena over hundreds of nanometres through group effect. On minerals and at biointerfaces, water-stabilised ionic condensates can remain in place for tens of seconds, dramatically altering the local electrostatics, mechanical properties and self-assembly. Nanoscale chemical and structural singularities of the solid can also affect the dynamics of the liquid and induce spatially correlated motion with consequences for lubrication and diffusion in soft and biological systems.

Bio: Kislon Voïtchovsky is currently a professor in Soft Condensed Matter Physics at Durham University, UK. He obtained is Masters in Physics from the University of Lausanne (now EPFL), followed by a PhD in Biological Physics from Oxford University, and a 3-year SNSF postdoctoral fellowship in Materials Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He returned to EPFL in 2010 as an SNSF Ambizione Fellow and started his career in Durham in 2013 with a tenure-track assistant professorship. His group’s research focuses on solid-liquid interfaces at the nanoscale, in particular the interplay between molecular-level effects and macroscopic consequences. The research is highly interdisciplinary, often combining cutting-edge new experimental techniques with computer simulations. Applications range from molecular self-assembly to nanolubrication, crystal growth, ionic effects, and biological interfaces.