Nicholas Abbott

Accreditations

Dr. Abbott is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests span colloid, interface, and surfactant science. A particular focus is directed toward the design of new surfactants that can be placed under active control, the use of liquid crystalline materials to amplify biomolecular interactions, and the design of interfaces with chemistry and topography patterned on nanometer dimensions. His work has been recognized by honors, which include a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award and a Fulbright Fellowship. He has published in leading journals, including Science, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Physical Review Letters and Langmuir.

Recent Publications

2024

Actuating Liquid Crystals Rapidly and Reversibly by using Chemical Catalysis
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Self-Timed and Spatially-Targeted Delivery of Chemical Cargo by Motile Liquid Crystal
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2023

Elucidating Molecular-Scale Principles Governing the Anchoring of Liquid Crystal Mixtures on Solid Surfaces
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Minimal Model of Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals
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Jetting and Droplet Formation Driven by Interfacial Electrohydrodynamic Effects Mediated by Solitons in Liquid Crystals
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Self-Assembly of Peptide-Conjugated Forklike Mesogens at Aqueous/Liquid Crystalline Interfaces: Molecular Design for Ordering Transition Induced by Specific Binding of Biomolecules
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Gas-phase microactuation using kinetically controlled surface states of ultrathin catalytic sheets
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Energy landscapes on polymerized liquid crystal interfaces
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Liquid Crystals as Multifunctional Interfaces for Trapping and Characterizing Colloidal Microplastics
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Non-equilibrium ordering of liquid crystalline (LC) films driven by external gradients in surfactant concentration
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Optical Fingerprinting of Dynamic Interfacial Reaction Pathways Using Liquid Crystals
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Interactions of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV fusion peptides measured using single-molecule force methods
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2022

Using Nanoscopic Solvent Defects for the Spatial and Temporal Manipulation of Single Assemblies of Molecules
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Two-Dimensional Mechanics of Atomically Thin Solids on Water
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Ordering Transitions of Liquid Crystals Triggered by Metal Oxide-catalyzed Reactions of Sulfur Oxide Species
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Sensing Gas Mixtures by Analyzing the Spatiotemporal Optical Responses of Liquid Crystals Using 3D Convolutional Neural Networks
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Formation of versus Recruitment to RNA-Rich Condensates: Controlling Effects Exerted by Peptide Side Chain Identity
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Programming Solitons in Liquid Crystals Using Surface Chemistry
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Stimuli-Responsive Liquid Crystal Printheads for Spatial and Temporal Control of Polymerization
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Strongly Chiral Liquid Crystals in Nanoemulsions
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2021

Interfacial Polyelectrolyte-Surfactant Complexes Regulate Escape of Microdroplets Elastically Trapped in Thermotropic Liquid Crystals
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Surfaces Decorated with Enantiomorphically Pure Polymer Nanohelices via Hierarchical Chirality Transfer across Multiple Length Scales
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Coupling the chemical reactivity of bimetallic surfaces to the orientations of liquid crystals
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Sculpting the shapes of giant unilamellar vesicles using isotropic-nematic-isotropic phase cycles
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Structured Liquid Droplets as Chemical Sensors that Function Inside Living Cells
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Using Liquid Crystals for <em>In Situ</em> Optical Mapping of Interfacial Mobility and Surfactant Concentrations at Flowing Aqueous-Oil Interfaces
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Cationic Side Chain Identity Directs the Hydrophobically Driven Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic β-Peptides in Aqueous Solution
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Design of Chemoresponsive Soft Matter Using Hydrogen-Bonded Liquid Crystals
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Active motion of multiphase oil droplets: emergent dynamics of squirmers with evolving internal structure
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Using machine learning and liquid crystal droplets to identify and quantify endotoxins from different bacterial species
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2020

Dynamic and reversible shape response of red blood cells in synthetic liquid crystals
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Biomolecular Binding at Aqueous Interfaces of Langmuir Monolayers of Bioconjugated Amphiphilic Mesogenic Molecules: A Molecular Dynamics Study
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Prolate and oblate chiral liquid crystal spheroids
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Structural and Optical Response of Polymer-Stabilized Blue Phase Liquid Crystal Films to Volatile Organic Compounds
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Binding of Organophosphorus Nerve Agents and Their Simulants to Metal Salts
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Liquid Crystal Emulsions That Intercept and Report on Bacterial Quorum Sensing
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Bacterial Quorum Sensing Signals Self-Assemble in Aqueous Media to Form Micelles and Vesicles: An Integrated Experimental and Molecular Dynamics Study
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Optical "Blinking" Triggered by Collisions of Single Supramolecular Assemblies of Amphiphilic Molecules with Interfaces of Liquid Crystals
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Cuboidal liquid crystal phases under multiaxial geometrical frustration
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2019

A New Strategy for Reporting Specific Protein Binding Events at Aqueous-Liquid Crystal Interfaces in the Presence of Non-Specific Proteins
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Steering Active Emulsions with Liquid Crystals
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Retention of Coiled-Coil Dimer Formation in the Absence of Ion Pairing at Positions Flanking the Hydrophobic Core
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Reconfigurable Multicompartment Emulsion Drops Formed by Nematic Liquid Crystals and Immiscible Perfluorocarbon Oils
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Amplification of Elementary Surface Reaction Steps on Transition Metal Surfaces Using Liquid Crystals: Dissociative Adsorption and Dehydrogenation
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Soft matter from liquid crystals
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Understanding lipopolysaccharide aggregation and its influence on activation of Factor C
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Thermally reconfigurable Janus droplets with nematic liquid crystalline and isotropic perfluorocarbon oil compartments
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Molecular Order Affects Interfacial Water Structure and Temperature-Dependent Hydrophobic Interactions between Nonpolar Self-Assembled Monolayers
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2018

Templated nanofiber synthesis via chemical vapor polymerization into liquid crystalline films
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Machine Learning Algorithms for Liquid Crystal-Based Sensors
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Amphiphile-Induced Phase Transition of Liquid Crystals at Aqueous Interfaces
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Mechanical Genomic Studies Reveal the Role of d-Alanine Metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Cell Stiffness
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Oligomers as Triggers for Responsive Liquid Crystals
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Redox-Triggered Orientational Responses of Liquid Crystals to Chlorine Gas
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Liquid Crystals with Interfacial Ordering that Enhances Responsiveness to Chemical Targets
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Self-reporting and self-regulating liquid crystals
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Multi-Scale Responses of Liquid Crystals Triggered by Interfacial Assemblies of Cleavable Homopolymers
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