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Dmitry Kopelevich
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., 2002, University of Notre Dame
Molecular and multi-scale modeling
Nanoscale transport phenomena
Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics
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Brief Descriptions of Current Research
Optimal design of materials and devices with nanometer and micron dimensions
requires a fundamental understanding of transport phenomena at nanoscales that
are qualitatively different from the more familiar, and better understood,
transport properties at macroscopic scales. In our research we combine molecular
dynamics and multi-scale simulations with theoretical tools, such as theory of
stochastic processes and of nonlinear dynamical systems, to elucidate the
peculiar properties of energy and mass transport on the nanoscopic scale.
Thermal Transport in Integrated Circuits and MEMS. Steady decrease of the
feature size of integrated circuits towards the nanometer scale leads to an
increase in generated heat per unit area. Hence, efficient transfer of heat away
from hotspots of integrated circuits becomes a crucial issue in design of the
new generation of electronic devices. The importance of efficient thermal
transport is even more pronounced in moving parts of MEMS (microelectromechanical
systems). Our goal is to understand the properties of the heat carriers in
nanoscale crystals and to develop a theory for nanoscale thermal transport that
would help design elements of integrated circuits and MEMS with desirable
thermal properties.
Self-assembled surfactant systems. In aqueous solutions surfactants
spontaneously self-assemble into a variety of microstructures that find use in
numerous applications, including drug delivery vehicles, fluids with externally
controlled rheological properties, and templates for advanced nanostructured
materials. Our research is focused on understanding dynamics of self-assembly
and structural transitions in surfactant systems. Theoretical and computational
modeling of these processes is extremely challenging due to the large span of
length- and time-scales involved. Although methods to study specific scales are
now well established, the link between different scales is currently incomplete.
The goal of our research in this area is to develop a seamless connection
between the microscopic molecular model and the macroscopic continuous models
for self-assembled structures.
Transport across surfactant-covered interface of
microemulsions. Microemulsions are dispersions of oil in water or
water in oil that are thermodynamically stable due to the significant lowering
of the interfacial tension by adsorption of surfactants on the surface. They
have received considerable attention due to numerous applications in a wide
variety of areas, such as separations, reactions, drug delivery, and
detoxification. In all these applications, the process of mass transfer across
the surfactant-covered interface plays a key role and the densely packed
surfactant monolayer on the surface of the drops offers a significant resistance
to the mass transfer. The goal of our research, conducted in collaboration with
Dr. A. Chauhan, is to investigate solute transport across a surfactant-covered
interface of oil-in-water microemulsions. A deeper understanding of the
transport across the surfactant-covered interface will help in designing
microemulsion systems for a wide variety of applications, including drug
delivery vehicles and drug detoxification systems.
Selected Publications
- “Coarse-Grained Kinetic Computations for Rare Events: Application to
Micelle Formation”, D. I. Kopelevich, A. Z. Panagiotopoulos, and I.
G. Kevrekidis, J. Chem. Phys., Vol. 122, 044908 (2005).
- “Coarse Grained Computations for a Micellar System”, D. I. Kopelevich,
A. Z. Panagiotopoulos, and I. G. Kevrekidis, J. Chem. Phys. , Vol.
122, 044907 (2005).
- “Non-thermal Transport of Small Sorbates in Zeolites: Chaotic Dynamics
and Long Jumps”, D. I. Kopelevich and H.-C. Chang, J. Chem. Phys., Vol.
119, 4573 (2003).
- “Does Lattice Vibration Drive Diffusion in Zeolites?”, D. I. Kopelevich
and H.-C. Chang, J. Chem. Phys., Vol. 114, 3776 (2001).
- “Nonequilibrium Diffusion in Zeolites due to Deterministic Hamiltonian
Chaos”, D. I. Kopelevich and H.-C. Chang, Phys. Rev. Lett. , Vol. 83,
1590 (1999).
- “Local Stability Theory of Solitary Pulses in an Active Medium”, H.-C.
Chang, E. A. Demekhin, and D. I. Kopelevich, Physica D, Vol. 97, 353
(1996).
- “Stability of a Solitary Pulse Against Wave Packet Disturbances in an
Active Medium”, H.-C. Chang, E. A. Demekhin, and D. I. Kopelevich, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 75, 1747 (1995).
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