Areas of Expertise
Molecular Modeling
Molecular Modeling
Molecular Modeling
Energetic Materials
Molecular Modeling
Molecular Modeling
BioNanotechnology
Molecular Modeling
BioNanotechnology
Molecular Modeling
Molecular Modeling is a growing field of research that includes all theoretical and computational methods used to mimic the behavior of atoms and molecules in a given chemical process. From small molecules and simple reactions, to large biomolecules and complex chemical processes, molecular modeling has become a cornerstone in modern chemistry.
A number of industries such as drug design, nanotechnology, energetic materials, catalytic analysis and so on, are now relying on molecular simulation results to drive their experimental efforts.
Quantum Mechanical methods provide an understanding of electronic interactions, reaction pathways and thermodynamic properties of a chemical reaction. Based on this knowledge, we build mathematical models to interpret and predict the chemical behavior of reactants before the reaction takes place.
Molecular Dynamics is an effective way to study large molecular systems. Widely used in the drug discovery field, this computational technique allows one to follow the evolution of a chemical process in a nano/milliseconds time scale. Chemical reactions paradigms such as Protein-Protein, Biomolecule-Environment, and catalytic surface-substrate, are all interactions that are routinely investigated with the help of this technique.
Energetic Materials
Energetic materials are a class of material that can release a high amount of chemical energy stored in their molecular structure. A good example of these type of materials are explosives, rocket fuels and propellants in general.
We are particularly interested in understanding and developing Energetic Ionic Liquids (EIL). Ionic liquids are organic salts with melting points near room temperature or by convention below 100°C. These unusual liquids are non-volatile, nonflammable, and have high thermal/chemical stability. Energetic Ionic Liquids can be designed to store a great amount of energy that will be released in the presence of small amounts of an oxidant.
Due to their unique properties, Energetic Ionic Liquids are a good candidate to be used in space exploration as rocket fuel for secondary payloads. However, we believed that there is an enormous potential for ionic liquids as generic energetic materials that is yet to be unveiled.
BioNanotechnology
BioNanotechnology is a rapidly evolving discipline that is at the intersection of the biological and nanotechnology disciplines. It is essentially miniaturized biotechnology to the nanoscale.
Today, an enormous amount of discoveries has been triggered by our ability to study in detail molecular structures and their functions. These discoveries are being translated into atomic-level-engineering solutions using nanotechnology.
Bionanotechnology field takes most of its fundamental principles from biochemistry. For example, DNA nanotechnology or cellular engineering would be classified as bionanotechnology because they involve working with biomolecules on the nanoscale.
