Santore Research Group

Most crystalline solids are formed from a bulk melt or solution and possess order in 3 dimensions.   Thin sheets of the same crystalline solids, materials such as graphene, or lamellae are fundamentally two dimensional and may also develop solid order in-plane.  Fluid lamellae, for instance made of copolymers or phospholipids, introduce the added complexity (and utility) of assuming a variety of curved shapes.  We are interested in how bending in these systems influences phase transitions, the resulting morphologies of solid domains, and mechanical properties of the composite systems. Ongoing research is revealing complex morphologies that had not been previously observed and current work targets an understanding of how stress and curvature influence crystal growth in lamellae.

Classical assembly of micelles, cylinders, gyroids, and other structures usually takes place in three dimensions or on a rigid planar support.  This program aims to assemble and reconfigure complex dynamic patterns of objects on shape-changing contoured surfaces.  We employ fluid membranes, only nanometers thick, as a support for rigid plate-like building blocks, and employ tension and curvature to accomplish assembly.  Regulating tension and curvature controls pairwise and non-additive multi-body interactions enabling precise positioning of features on length scales of microns and many tens of microns, at least an order of magnitude greater than the building blocks themselves.

Bacteria cells respond to the presence surfaces:  Gene expression is different for bacteria free in solution versus on surfaces.  Adhesion to surfaces triggers bacterial cells to up-regulate virulence factors, and initiate biofilm formation and infections. We strive to understand how bacteria sense a surface environment, focusing on processes that occur before a surface becomes crowded with cells. We rely directly on contact, deformation, and chemical-mechanical signal transduction.  This collaborative program, bridging materials physics, microbiology, and engineering, examines the nature of bacteria-surface contact on surfaces of well-characterized chemistry, mechanics, and timescales, treating bacteria as living materials.

Polymers added to suspensions of particles and droplets can be adsorbed or depleted from their surfaces, setting up attractions and repulsions between them.  This in turn can cause aggregation or stabilization and can produce phase separation.  Work in the Santore lab aims to create new materials by incorporating new particulate species and bacteria in aggregates and equilibrium phases, including coacervates and depletion-driven phase separation.

In nature and technology particles encounter surfaces in a flowing environment.  Sometimes the goal is adhesive capture, other times it is lubrication or controlled particle motion.  The Santore lab creates a variety of patterned and non-spherical particles and studies these near surfaces in flow in a variety of projects and as models for the interactions of living cells with surfaces.  For instance we produce rod-shaped silica particles that mimic capsular bacteria, and patterned spheres that undergo surface rolling similar to that of neutrophils, to name a few examples.  Several of these projects have led to technologies for sensors and separation media.

See Current Members of the Santore Research Group

• Aaron Chen, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2017, Freelance
• Dong Chen, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2014, Barklays
• Saugata Gon, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2013, ChampionX
• Surachate Kalasin, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2010, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
• Yalin Liu, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2021, Henkel
• Jessica Mccoy, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2008, Saint-Gobain Tape Solutions
• Jin Nam, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2008, Yale University
• Molly Shave, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2019, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
• Alicia Toscano, M.S. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2002
• Weiyue Xin, Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, 2024

• Bing Fang, Postdoc (2009 - 2014)
• Surachate Kalasin, Postdoc (2010 - 2017)
• Bogdan Zdyrko, Postdoc (2005 - 00/0)
• Jun Zhang, Postdoc (2006 - 2008), International Paper
• Mingjun Zhou, Postdoc (2019 - 2022)

• “Rapid Electrostatic Capture of Rod-Shaped Particles on Planar Surfaces:  Standing Up to Shear” M.K. Shave, A. Balciunaite, Z. Xu, M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 35, 13070-13077 (2019). Doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b01871

•  “Surfaces that Adhesively Discriminate Breast Epithelial Cell Lines and Lymphocytes in Buffer and Human Breast Milk” S. Kalasin, E.P., Browne, K.F. Arcaro, and M.M. Santore,* ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 11, 16347-16356 (2019). Doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b03385

•  “Mechanical Properties and Concentrations of Poly(ethylene glycol)  in Hydrogels and Brushes Direct the Surface Transport of Staphylococcus aureus” K.W. Kolewe, S. Kalasin, M.K. Shave, J.D. Schiffman, and M.M. Santore*, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 11, 320-330 (2019). Doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b18302   Awarded ACS Editors’ Choice.

•  “Nanoscale Functionalized Particles with Rotation-Controlled Capture in Shear Flow” M.K. Shave, S. Kalasin, E. Ying, and M.M. Santore*, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 10, 29058-29068 (2018). Doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b05328

•  “Adsorbed Polyzwitterion Copolymer Layers Designed for Protein Repellency and Interfacial Retention” S. Kalasin, R.A. Letteri, T. Emrick, and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir 33, 13708-13717 (2017).  Doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7603391

•  “Tunable Fluorescence Quenching Near the Graphene Aqueous Interface” A.W. Chen, A.L. Briseno, and M.M. Santore*, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506, 76-82 (2017).  doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.07.019

•  “Evidence for Negative Charge Near Large Area Supported Graphene in Water:  A Study of Silica Microsphere Interactions” A.W. Chen, B. Fang, H. Lee, A.L. Briseno, and M.M. Santore*, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 492, 15-24 (2017).

•  “Selective Adhesive Cell Capture without Molecular Specificity:  New Surfaces Exploiting Nanoscopic Polycationic Features as Discrete Adhesive Units” S. Kalasin, E.P. Browne, K.F. Arcaro, and M.M. Santore*, RSC Advances 7(22), 13416-13425 (2017).

•  “Near-Surface Motion and Dynamic Adhesion during Silica Microparticle Capture on a Polymer (Solvated PEG) Brush via Hydrogen Bonding” S. Kalasin, and M. M. Santore*, Macromolecules 49(1) 3334-343 (2016).

•  “Surfaces for Competitive Selective Bacteria Capture from Protein Solutions” B. Fang, S. Gon, K. Nusslein, and M. M. Santore*, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 7(19) 10275-10282 (2015).

•  “Statistically-Based DLVO Approach to the Dynamic Interaction of Colloidal Microparticles with Topographically and Chemically Heterogeneous Collectors” M. Bendersky, M. M. Santore and J. M. Davis,* Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 449, 443-451 (2015).

•  “Engineering Nanoscale Surface Features to Sustain Microparticle Rolling in Flow” S. Kalasin and M. M. Santore,* ACS Nano 9(5), 4706-4716 (2015).

•  “Hybrid Copolymer-Phospholipid Vesicles:  Phase Separation Resembling Mixed Phospholipid Lamellae but with Mechanical Stability and Control” D. Chen, and M. M. Santore,* Soft Matter 11, 2617-2626 (2015).

•  “Antimicrobial Surfaces Containing Cationic Nanoparticles:  How Immobilized, Clustered, and Protruding Cationic Charge Presentation Affects Killing Activity and Kinetics” B. Fang,  Y. Jiang, K. Nusslein, V.M. Rotello, and M.M. Santore* Colloids and Surfaces B – Biointerfaces  125, 255-263 (2015).

•  “Three Dimensional (Temperature-Tension-Composition) Phase Map of Mixed DOPC-DPPC Vesicles: Two Solid Phases and a Fluid Phase Coexist on Three Intersecting Planes” D. Chen, and M.M. Santore,* Biochemica and Biophysica Acta (BBA): Biomembranes  1838(11), 2788-2786 (2014).

•  “DPPC –Rich Domain Formation in Binary Phospholipid Vesicle Membranes:  Two Dimensional Nucleation and Growth” D. Chen, and M.M. Santore,* Langmuir 30(31), 9484-9493 (2014).

•  “Capture of Soft Particles on Electrostatically Heterogeneous Collectors:  Brushy Particles”  Y. Wen, S. Kalasin, X. Guo, and M.M. Santore,* Langmuir 30(8), 2019-2027 (2014).

•  “Large effect of membrane tension on the fluid-solid phase transitions of two-component phosphatidylcholine vesicles”  D. Chen and M.M. Santore*,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S., 111(1), 179-184 (2014).

•  “Easy come easy go: containing immobilized nanoparticles or isolated polycation chains facilitate removal of captured Staphylococcus aureus by retarding bacterial bond maturation” B. Fang, Y. Jiang, V.M. Rotello, K. Nusslein, and M.M. Santore*, ACS Nano, 8(2), 1180-1190 (2014).

•  "How Bacteria Adhere to Brushy PEG Surfaces: Clinging to Flaws and Compressing the Brush"S. Gon, K.N. Kumar, K. Nusslein, and M.M. Santore*, Macromolecules, 45, 8373-8381 (2012).

•  "Using Flow to Switch the Valency of Bacterial Capture on Engineered Surfaces Containing Immobilized Nanoparticles" B. Fang, S. Gon, M.H. Park, K.N. Kumar, V.M. Rotello, K. Nusslein, and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 28, 7803-7810 (2012).

•  "Sensitivity of Protein Adsorption to Architectural Variations in a Protein-Resistant Polymer Brush Containing Engineered Nanoscale Adhesive Sites" S. Gon and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 27, 15083-15091 (2011).

•  "Interaction of Cationic Proteins and Polypeptides with Biocompatible Cationically-Anchored PEG Brushes" S. Gon, B. Fang, and M.M. Santore*, Macromolecules, 44, 8161-8168 (2011).

•  "Depletion versus Deflection: How Membrane Bending Can Influence Adhesion" J. nam and M.M. Santore*, Physical Review Letters, 107, 078101 (2011).

•  Bacterial Adhesion on Hybrid Cationic Brush Surfaces: Ionic Strength Tunes Capture from Monovalent to Multivalent Binding B. Fang, S. Gon, M. Park, K.-N. Kumar, V.M. Rotello, K. Nusslein, and M.M. Santore*, Colloids and Surfaces B: BioInterfaces, 87, 109-115 (2011).

•  "Single Component and Selective Competitive Protein Adsorption in a Patchy Polymer Brush: Opposition between Steric Repulsions and Electrostatic Attractions " S. Gon and  M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 27, 1487-1493. (2011).

•  "Particle Capture via Discrete Binding Elements: Systematic Variations in Binding Energy for Randomly Distributed Nanoscale Surface Features" S. Kalasin, S. Martwiset, E.B. Coughlin, and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 26, 16865-16870 (2010).

•  "Manipulating Protein Adsorption Using a Patchy Protein-Resistant Brush" S. Gon, M. Bendersky, J.L. Ross, and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 26, 12147-12154 (2010).

•  “The Role of Nano-Scale Heterogeneous Electrostatic Interactions in Initial Bacterial Adhesion from Flow: A Case Study with Staphylococcus aureas" S. Kalasin, J. Dabkowski, K. Nusslein, and M.M. Santore*, Colloids and Surfaces B: BioInterfaces, 76, 489-495 (2010).

•  “Sustained Rolling of Microparticles in Shear Flow over an Electrostatically Patchy Surface” S. Kalasin and M.M. Santore,* Langmuir, 26, 2317-2324 (2010).

•  "Non-Specific Adhesion on Biomaterial Surfaces Driven by Small Amounts of Protein Adsorption" S. Kalasin and  M.M. Santore*, Colloids and Surfaces B:  Biointerfaces, 73, 229-236 (2009).

•  "The Impact of Nanoscale Chemical Features on Micron-Scale Adhesion:  Crossover from Heterogeneity-Dominated to Mean Field Behavior" R. Duffadar, S. Kalasin, J.M. Davis, and  M.M. Santore*, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 337, 396-407 (2009) .

•  Invited Feature Article and Cover Kicking off Langmuir’s 25th Year:  "Beyond Molecular Recognition: Tuning Interfacial Valency for Micron-Scale Specificity between Adhesive Surfaces" M.M. Santore*, J. Zhang, S. Srivastava, and V.M. Rotello, Langmuir, 25, 84-96 (2009).

•  "Competitive Co-Adsorption Dynamics in Surfactant-Copolymer Formulations" P. B.-Y. Ofir, B. Zdyrko, and  M.M. Santore*, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 48, 2387-2394 (2009).

•  "Manipulating Microparticles with Single Surface-Immobilized Nanoparticles" J. Zhang, S. Srivastava, R. Duffadar, J.M. Davis, V.M. Rotello, and  M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 24, 6404-6408 (2008). 
This article was highlighted in Nature Nanotechnology:  http://www.nature.com/nnano/reshigh/2008/0608/full/nnano.2008.201.html

•  "Adsorption of Copolymer Micelles and Aggregates: From Kinetics to Adsorbed Layer Structure" B. Zdyrko. P. B.-Y. Ofir, A.M. Alb, W.F. Reed, and  M.M. Santore*, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 322, 365-374 (2008).

•  "Hydrodynamic Crossover in Dynamic Microparticle Adhesion on Surfaces of Controlled Nanoscale Heterogeneity" S. Kalasin and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir, 24, 4435-4438 (2008).

•  "The Adhesion Kinetics of Sticky Vesicles in Tension:  The Distinction between Spreading and Receptor Binding" J. Nam and  M.M. Santore,* Langmuir, 23, 10650-10660 (2007).

•  "Adhesion Plaque Formation Dynamics between Polymer Vesicles in the Limit of Highly Concentrated Binding Sites" J. Nam and  M.M. Santore,* Langmuir, 23, 7216-7224 (2007).

•  "Micrometer Scale Adhesion on Nanometer-Scale Patchy Surfaces:  Adhesion Rates, Adhesion Thresholds, and Curvature-Based Selectivity" N. Kozlova and M.M. Santore,* Langmuir, 23, 4782-4791 (2007).

•  "Fibrinogen Adsorption on Three Silica-based Surfaces:  Conformation and Kinetics"  A. Toscano, and M.M. Santore*, Langmuir. 22, 2588-2597  (2006).

•  "Micron-Scale Adhesion Dynamics Mediated by Nanometer-Scale Surface Features" N. Kozlova and M. Santore,* Langmuir, 22(3), 1135-1142 (2006).

•  "Dynamics in Adsorbed Homopolymer Layers:  Understanding Complexity  from Simple Starting Points" M.M. Santore*, Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, 10, 176-183 (2005).

•  "Protein Spreading Kinetics at Liquid-Solid Interfaces  via an Adsorption Probe Method"  M.M. Santore*, and C.F. Wertz , Langmuir  21,10172-10178 (2005).

•  "Polyelectrolyte Desorption and Exchange Dynamics  near the Sharp Adsorption Cut-off " N. Hansupalak. and  M. Santore*, Macromolecules 37(4), 1621-1629 (2004)

•  "Sharp Polyelectrolyte Adsorption Cut-off Induced by Monovalent Salt " N. Hansupalak. and  M. Santore*, Langmuir 19, 7423-7426  (2003).

•  "The Influence of Charge Density and Coverage on Bound Fraction for a Weakly Cationic Polyelctrolyte Adsorbing on Silica" Y. Shin, J.E. Roberts. and  M. Santore*, Macromolecules 35, 4090-4095 (2002).

•  "Water Uptake Kinetics in PMMA Films Using a Fluorescent Rotor Probe" J.P. Goodelle, R.A. Pearson, and M. Santore*, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 86, 2463-2471 (2002).

•  "The Effect of Surfactant on Unilamellar Polymeric Vesicles:  Altered Membrane Properties and Stability in the Limit of Weak Surfactant Partitioning" M. Santore*, D.E. Discher , Y.Y. Won, F.S. Bates, D.A. Hammer, Langmuir, 18, 7299-7308 (2002).

•  "Adsorption and Reorientation of Lysozyme  on Hydrophobic Surfaces" C. Wertz and M. Santore, Langmuir  18, 1190-1199 (2002).

•  "Dynamics in Adsorbed Layers of Associative Polymers in the Limit of Strong Backbone-Surface Interactions" Y. Huang and M. Santore*, Langmuir 18, 2158-2165 (2002).

•  "Fibrinogen Adsorption on Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces:  Geometrical and Energetic Aspects of Interfacial Relaxations " C. Wertz and M. Santore*, Langmuir, 18, 706-715 (2002).

•  "The Relationship between Polymer / Substrate Charge Density and Charge Overcompensation by Adsorbed Polyelectrolyte Layers" Y. Shin, J.E. Roberts, and M. Santore*, J. Colloid Interface Science, 247, 220-230 (2002).

•  "From Membranes to Melts, Rouse to Reptation: Diffusion in Polymersome versus Lipid Bilayer" C.M. Lee, M. Santore, F. Bates, and D. Discher, Macromolecules  35, 323-326 (2002).

•  "The Influence of Charge Variation on the Adsorbed Configuration of a Model Cationic Oligomer onto Colloidal Silica" Y. Shin, J.E. Roberts and M. Santore*, J. Colloid Interface Science  244, 190-199 (2001).

•  “The Energy Barrier to Self Exchange between PEO Adsorbed on Silica and in Solution”  E. Mubarekyan and M. Santore, Macromolecules  34,  7504-7513 (2001).

•  “Effect of Surface Hydrophobicity on Adsorption and Relaxation Kinetics of Albumin and Fibrinogen:  Single Species and Competitive Behavior" C. Wertz and M. Santore, Langmuir 17, 3006-3016 (2001)

•  “Influence of Molecular Weight and Layer Age on Self Exchange Kinetics for Saturated Layers of PEO in a Good Solvent”  E. Mubarekyan and M. Santore, Macromolecules  34, 4978-4986 (2001).

• “Diffusion Limited Adsorption Kinetics of Polymer Layers Adsorbed at the Solid-Liquid Interface,” in Encyclopedia of Surface and Colloid Science, A. Hubbard  and P. Somasundaran, eds.; Marcel Dekker  Inc., NY. (2002), pp 1458-70.

•  “Dynamics in Adsorbed Polymer Layers,”  M. Santore, Z. Fu, and E. Mubarekyan in “Associative Polymers in Aqueous Solutions,” ed. J.E. Glass, ACS Symp. Ser. 765, 206-220, 2000.

• "Adsorption and Exchange Dynamics in Hydroxyethylcellulose Layers on Silica" E. Mubarekyan, and M. Santore, J. Colloid and Interface Sci, 227, 334-344 (2000).

•  "Adsorption and Relaxation Kinetics of Albumin and Fibrinogen on Hydrophobic Surfaces:  Single-Species and Competitive Behavior" C.F. Wertz, and M. Santore, Langmuir  15, 8884 - 8894 (1999).

•  “Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects in Bridging Flocculation”  M. M. Santore and H.D. Ou-Yang, Chapter 7, p 269-309, in Polymer Interfaces and Emulsions, K. Esumi, ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York. 1999

•  "The Effect of Layer Age and Interfacial Relaxations on the Self-Exchange Kinetics of Poly(ethylene oxide) Adsorbed on Silica" Z. Fu and M. M. Santore, Macromolecules, 32,  1939-1948 (1999).

•    "Kinetics of Competitive Adsorption of PEO chains with Different Molecular Weights" Z. Fu and M. M. Santore, Macromolecules, 31, 7014-7022 (1998).

•  "Competitive Adsorption of PEO Chains with and without Charged End Groups" Z. Fu and M. M. Santore, Langmuir, 14, 4300-4307, (1998).

•  "The Kinetic Perspective on Polymer Adsorption Energetics" M.M. Santore and Z. Fu, Proceedings of the Adhesion Society, Savannah National Meeting (1998).

•  "Total Internal Reflectance Fluorescence" M.M. Santore in Colloid-Polymer Interactions:   From Fundamentals to Practice,  Farinato and Dubin, eds.  J. Wiley, New York, 1999, p 365 - 384.

•  "Diffusion Controlled Phenomena in Adsorbed Polymer Dynamics" M.M. Santore in Colloid-Polymer Interactions: From Fundamentals to Practice,  Farinato and Dubin, eds.  J. Wiley, New York, 1999, p 127 - 146.

•  "Characterization of Polystyrene Latex Surfaces by the Adsorption of Rhodamine 6G"  E. Mubarekyan, and  M. M. Santore, Langmuir, 14, 1597-1603 (1998).

•   "Evolution of Layer Density and Thickness during PEO Adsorption on Silica"  Z. Fu, and  M. M. Santore, Langmuir, 13, 5779-81 (1997).

•   "Direct Measurement of Molecular-Weight Driven Competition during Polymer Adsorption"
M. M. Santore and Z. Fu, Macromolecules  30, 8516 (1997).

•   "Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Adsorption onto Chemically-Etched Silicates by Brewster Angle Reflectivity"  Z. Fu, M. M. Santore, Colloids and Surfaces A Physchem Eng. Asp,  135, 63-75 (1998).

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