Nanoparticle Transport in Crowded, Confined Media

Transport of nanoscale particles through crowded, confined matrices is essential for drug delivery, diagnostic assays, and processing of nanocomposite materials. Because nanoparticles are comparable in size to heterogeneities within these matrices, their transport properties may be altered by local fluid properties and nearby confining surfaces. I will discuss our recent experiments and simulations of nanoparticle transport in three settings: polymer solutions, which model viscoelastic liquids; supercooled and glassy colloidal liquids, which model crowded suspensions; and porous media. Understanding of the coupling of nanoparticles dynamics to liquid relaxations and geometric confinement will lead to better control over the spreading of nanoparticles through complex, heterogeneous materials.