Bayles Research Group

Welcome to the Bayles Lab! Our group studies diffusive and advective transport that occurs near interfaces within soft materials in order to address grand challenges in manufacturing, sustainability, and health. “Soft” materials have mechanical properties intermediate between liquids and solids. Examples can be found all around us, from naturally occurring human, animal, and plant tissue, to manufactured consumer product formulations, process intermediates, and textured foods. Common to these seemingly disparate examples is a rich internal structure, often composed of co-existing phases hierarchically ordered over long ranges. We seek to better understand how species navigate these complex structures at length scales commensurate with their architecture. To this end, we develop experimental platforms that combine microfluidics, optical microscopy, interferometry, and microrheology to mimic dynamic environments. We complement our experiments with theoretical modeling, using ideas from continuum fluid dynamics, soft mechanics, and even Boolean logic. This approach helps us identify transport bottlenecks and devise new strategies to intensify existing processes. Our highly interdisciplinary lab is located in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware and was established in 2022.