Computational and theoretical research of macromolecular and surfactant systems
Modelling of polymer and protein materials, as well as, colloidal systems
Atomistic to mesoscale modelling of soft matter
Research projects in Soft Materials Modelling group
We work mainly on biotechnology, polymer materials, and adaptive soft matter systems. Our research focuses on macromolecular and colloidal assemblies but also complex externally driven assembly in soft matter. We strive for fundamental understanding, yet work on practical materials and research questions, typically in tight collaboration with experimental groups. We are the modelling group the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER): we tend to get especially excited about assembly phenomena, the influence of interfaces (surfaces), and external driving of the material self-organization via molecular and energy flows. Soft matter in electric and magnetic fields also gets our attention, as do the effects of ion pairing (charge correlations) and ion gradients in solutions in controlling assembly and structure formation.
Some topic areas that we work on are listed below.
Coacervate / condensate phase of polyelectrolytes and proteins. For polyelectrolyte materials, we have worked on the role of water and ions on the thermal response of materials rising from complex coacervation (polyelectrolyte complexes and multilayers). For protein systems, we focus on block proteins that undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) as a preassembly step for structural protein materials. Most of our protein materials work is on synthetic silk-like proteins.
Colloids in apolar environments (oil-water-oil interfaces and reverse micellar systems). An apolar solvent, opposed to water as the solvent, results in surfactant and colloidal assembly systems to a variety of both fundamentally and technologically relevant, yet poorly understood phenomena. We examine assembly and adsorption in reverse micellar systems but also driven self-organization of colloidal assemblies in apolar media. We work on both biobased and synthetic surfactant systems.
Cellulose materials and other carbohydrates. In cellulose materials, we focus on understanding water interactions and co-solute effects at cellulose crystal interfaces to understand transitions in cellulose crystal aqueous suspensions, more precisely sol to gel and gel to stiff gel transitions. We have also ongoing research efforts on solvent effects in colloidal lignin assembly and starch as assembly additive in systems with colloidal particles. In these, our modelling targets biobased, responsive materials.
Maria is a scientist by training, a researcher by disposition, and tends to care. Her researcher profile including an incomplete list of publications and pdfs can be found here (research.aalto.fi). Maria is a principal investigator in the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence (CoE) in Life Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER) and the group is the modelling group of the CoE. Maria also sends special funding love notes to Novo Nordisk Fonden for Ascending Investigator 2022 award.
Maria teaches Molecular Thermodynamics (CHEM-E4210) and Computational Chemistry I (CHEM-E4115). She also instructs a number of student projects and B.Sc. theses for the Aalto degree programs. She is involved in a few other things as well. Anyway, what ever is your reason to seek her out, her work contact information is:
Maria Sammalkorpi, D.Sc. (Tech.)
Maria claims to be nice, and occasionally is. She used to be quite shy about her geeky books and computers. Then, she went to get a degree in physics and grew up a little. The amount she grew is rather disputable as she still measures only 153cm (~5ft). Sometime later she acknowledged also chemistry, got a doctoral degree, and fell in love, definitely not in that order.
Dmitry Tolmachev, Ph.D.
Dmitry models biosynthetic protein materials, but is also involved with the cellulose modelling directions of the group. Dmitry has a broad molecular modelling background of chemically specific molecular systems.
Ygor Morais Jaques, Ph.D.
Ygor's research area is molecular level wetting of surfaces. He focuses on droplet spreading on interfaces of varying hydrophobicity. Ygor uses mainly atomistic detail approaches and considers chemically specific interfaces and molecular systems.
Max Philipp Holl, Ph.D.
Max focuses in the group on theory and modelling approaches to magnetic field driven pattern formation in systems with diffuse interfaces. His methodological expertise is in field-theoretic models and statistical mechanics, and he comes to the group with soft matter physics background.
Tuuva Kastinen, Ph.D.
Tuuva works on polypeptide and other polyelectrolyte interactions in aqueous solutions. She uses atomistic detail molecular dynamics (MD) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) approaches in her work. Tuuva's background is in chemistry and she has a quantum chemistry modelling background.
Alberto Scacchi, Ph.D.
Alberto is part of the LIBER CoE Active Matter group and somewhat affiliated with also the LIBER CoE Biomolecular Materials group, but enough Soft Matter Modeller to get a listing also here. Alberto models ferrofluids and structure formation in complex protein solutions but also colloidal systems and block-copolymer assemblies. He uses classical density functional theory and coarse-grained mesoscale models to study self-assembly and organization of soft matter. Alberto's background is soft matter physics and he is very familiar with statistical mechanics approaches and basic theory in addition to numerical approaches.
Maisa Vuorte, M.Sc.
Maisa works on characterizing surfactant adsorption from apolar solvents to solid substrates computationally in the group. She has also worked on polymeric micelles and dielectric membranes. Maisa comes to us with a bioinformation technology and Life Science Technologies Aalto M.Sc. program, augmented with some molecular biosciences studies, background.
Zhennan Kou, M.Sc.
Zhennan models the interactions of cellulose crystals in water solutions focusing especially on the effects of cosolutes. Before joining the group, Zhennan did his M.Sc. thesis in the Applied Physics Department of Aalto University focusing on modelling phonons in MoS2 lattices.
Kourosh Hasheminejad, M.Sc.
Kourosh works on modelling polymer film coatings on biobased substrates. He uses mesoscale dissipative particle dynamics and atomistic detail molecular dynamics methodology to examine block-copolymer assembly in bulk and the film formation and structure at the substrate. Kourosh' comes to the group with a materials science background.
Hossein Vahid Dastjerdi, M. Sc.
Hossein works on interactions of charged polymers and salt ions. He uses atomistic, coarse-grained and mean field theory based approaches to examine interactions rising in polyelectrolyte systems in the presence of excess salt. Hossein's background is physics.
Adam Harmat, M. Sc.
Adam works on multiscale modelling of biomolecular condensates, especially the effect of external fields on liquid-liquid phase separation in protein systems. Adam comes to the group with chemical engineering and physical chemistry study background.
Aapo Lokka
Aapo is doing his M.Sc. thesis on modelling surfactant assemblies in apolar solvents in electric fields. His work targets understanding of reverse micelles as charge carriers and the tunability of colloidal assembly via electric fields in apolar media.
Miko Niemistö
Miko is doing his M.Sc. thesis on the effects of silane coatings on wetting of silica interfaces. Previously, Miko has worked in the group on protein modelling targeted at understanding biomolecular condensates formation..
Emil Stråka
Emil's research in the group focuses on magnetically controlled assembly of nanoparticles via Brownian and Langevin dynamics simulations approaches.
Dr. Mohammad Khavani Sariani, Dr. Sousa Javan Nikkhah, Dr. Sathish Kumar Mudedla, Dr. Piotr Batys, Dr. Ran Zhang, Dr. Erol Yildirm, Dr. Hanne Antila, L.Sc. Dipti Potdar, M.Sc. Zahra Mohammadyarloo, M.Sc. Samu Kivistö, M.Sc. Anna Leino, M.Sc. Dominik Wowczyk,Juliaana Juurakko, Iina Kivimäki, Laura Tiittanen, Marc Härkönen, Sami Kulju, Sohvi Luukkonen
We are looking for a post-doctoral fellow to join the group. Doctoral student candidates may apply at M.Sc. thesis level.
We hire every year 1-2 B.Sc. or M.Sc. students as summer research assistants. The application period is in January.
Senior Scientist Maria Sammalkorpi has been awarded the highly competed Ascending Investigator 2022 Grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation for a total of ca 9 million DKK (1.2M€).
Electromechanical Energy Conversion and Transfer and Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials were chosen as Centres of Excellence led by Aalto University
'Designing materials on molecular level – what does it mean for researchers, designers - and for the globe?’
Researchers have for the first time deduced the microscopic nature of the anomalous thermal transition that hydrated polyelectrolyte assemblies bear.
A recent thesis investigated the interactions of charged polymers in salt solution.
In the New Silk project, design and materials science met on bio-based synthetic protein materials (silk like materials). More info is available at https://www.aalto.fi/en/newsilk.