Seminar Speaker: Sujit Datta, Ph.D. – In a tight spot: In situ imaging of gel, colloid, and bacterial dynamics in porous media

Speaker: Claudia Marin-Artieda, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Professor and Graduate Student Director, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

ABSTRACT

Many energy, environmental, and agricultural processes rely on the dynamics of soft and living matter in porous media. However, these dynamics are typically challenging to study due to the opacity of typical 3D media.  In this talk, I will describe three examples of how we overcome this challenge using imaging in transparent 3D porous media.  First, motivated by the promise of hydrogels in agriculture as reservoirs of water in dry soils, we have developed quantitative principles describing how the amount of water absorbed depends on hydrogel and soil properties.  Second, motivated by the occurrence of colloidal particles (e.g., microplastics, reactive particles for environmental remediation) in soils, sediments, and aquifers, we have identified fundamental mechanisms influencing particle distribution throughout a porous medium.  Finally, motivated by the impact of subsurface microbial communities on our environment, we have shown how pore-scale confinement regulates bacterial motility and spreading.  Together, the insights generated by this work provide guidelines for the effective use of hydrogels in agriculture, as well as improved prediction and control of particle and bacterial spreading in the environment.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Sujit Datta is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University.  He earned a BA in Mathematics and Physics and an MS in Physics in 2008 from the University of Pennsylvania.  He earned his PhD in Physics in 2013 from Harvard, where he studied fluid dynamics and instabilities in porous media and colloidal microcapsules with David Weitz.  His postdoctoral training was in Chemical Engineering at Caltech, where he studied the biophysics of the gut with Rustem Ismagilov.  He joined Princeton in 2017, where his lab studies soft and living materials in complex settings, motivated by challenges like water remediation, carbon sequestration, oil/gas recovery, and targeted drug delivery.  Prof. Datta is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, AIChE 35 Under 35 Award, ACS Unilever Award, APS Andreas Acrivos Award in Fluid Dynamics, APS LeRoy Apker Award, ACS Petroleum Research Fund New Investigator Award, and multiple Commendations for Outstanding Teaching.

Date/Time:
Date(s) - May 18, 2021
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location:
Zoom Link

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