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Dr Chiara Neto


Contact Details

Senior Lecturer
Room349
School of Chemistry, Building F11
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
E: chiara.neto@sydney.edu.au
T: 9351 2752
F: +61-2-9351-3329
W: http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/~chiara

Career Profile:

  • BSc(Hons), University of Florence, Italy, 1998
  • PhD, University of Florence, Italy, 2001
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ulm and Saarland University, Germany, 2002-2003
  • ARC Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian National University, 2003-2006
  • Lecturer, University of Sydney, 2007-2010
  • Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney, 2011

Areas of Interest:

  • stability and dynamics of nano-thin polymer films
  • interfacial slip in simple liquids for microfluidic applications
  • functional micro-patterned surfaces
  • nano- and micro-patterning of proteins and cells
  • superhydrophobic surfaces
  • atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Research:

My research can be summarised under three strongly connected headings:

1. Interfacial slip. With colloid probe AFM we can measure hydrodynamic drainage forces. We have been among the first to show the occurrence of boundary slip in simple liquids, and quantified the effect of surface properties on liquid slip. These findings are relevant for the micro-control of liquid flow and in confined biological systems.

2. Functional micro-patterned surfaces. Unstable thin liquid films dewet and produce micro-patterns on a substrate. The structured films are functional, for example they have the ability to pattern grafted polymer layers, to micro-pattern proteins and cells, and condense water from the atmosphere.

3. Superhydrophobic surfaces. We investigate the roughness and wettability of surfaces which have very high water-repellence, as these can be used as self-cleaning, anti-fouling and friction-reducing coatings.

For current information and opportunities, please visit: http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/~chiara/

Publications (2009 - 2013):

  1. Lim, SK; Perrier, S and Neto, C. Patterned chemisorption of proteins by thin polymer film dewetting. Soft Matter, 9 (9), 2598-2602, 2013. DOI: 10.1039/c3sm27241a

  2. Thickett, SC; Moses, J; Gamble, JR and Neto, C. Micropatterned substrates made by polymer bilayer dewetting and collagen nanoscle assembly support endothelial cell adhesion. Soft Matter, 8 (39), 9996-10007, 2012. DOI: 10.1039/c2sm26557e

  3. Telford, AM; Meagher, L; Glattauer, V; Gengenbach, TR; Easton, CD and Neto, C. Micropatterning of polymer brushes: Grafting from dewetting polymer films for biological applications. Biomacromolecules, 13 (9), 2989-2996, 2012. DOI: 10.1021/bm3010534

  4. Lee, T; Hendy, SC and Neto, C. Interfacial flow of simple liquids on polymer brushes: Effect of solvent quality and grafting density. Macromolecules, 45 (15), 6241-6252, 2012. DOI: 10.1021/ma300880y

  5. Ghezzi, M; Thickett, SC and Neto, C. Early and intermediate stages of guided dewetting in polystyrene thin films. Langmuir, 28 (27), 10147-10151, 2012. DOI: 10.1021/la301773h

  6. Zhu, L; Attard, P and Neto, C. Reconciling slip measurements in symmetric and asymmetric systems. Langmuir, 28 (20), 7768-7774, 2012. DOI: 10.1021/la301040d

  7. Zhu, L; Neto, C and Attard, P. Reliable measurements of interfacial slip by colloid probe atomic force microscopy. III. Shear-rate-dependent slip. Langmuir, 28 (7), 3465-3473, 2012. DOI: 10.1021/la204566h

  8. Telford, AM; Thickett, SC; James, M and Neto, C. Competition between dewetting and cross-linking in poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)/polystyrene biolayer films. Langmuir, 27 (23), 14207-14217, 2011. DOI: 10.1021/la2029577

  9. Thickett, SC; Neto, C and Harris, AT. Biomimetic surface coatings for atmospheric water capture prepared by dewetting of polymer films. Advanced Materials, 23 (32), 3718-3722, 2011. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201100290

  10. Zhu, L; Attard, P and Neto, C. Reliable measurements of interfacial slip by colloid probe atomic force microscopy. I. Mathematical modeling. Langmuir, 27 (11), 6701-6711, 2011. DOI: 10.1021/la2007809

  11. Zhu, L; Attard, P and Neto, C. Reliable measurements of interfacial slip by colloid probe atomic force microscopy. II. Hydrodynamic force measurements. Langmuir, 27 (11), 6712-6719, 2011. DOI: 10.1021/la104597d

  12. Willmott, GR; Neto, C and Hendy, SC. Uptake of water droplets by non-wetting capillaries. Soft Matter, 7 (6), 2165-3024, 2011. DOI: 10.1039/c0sm00574f

  13. Thickett, SC; Harris, A and Neto, C. Interplay between dewetting and layer inversion in poly(4-vinylpyridine)/polystyrene bilayers. Langmuir, 26 (20), 15989-15999, 2010. DOI: 10.1021/la103078k

  14. Telford, AM; James, M; Meagher, L and Neto, C. Thermally cross-linked PNVP films as antifouling coatings for biomedical applications. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2 (8), 2399-2408, 2010. DOI: 10.1021/am100406j

  15. Willmott, GR; Neto, C and Hendy, SC. An experimental study of interactions between droplets and a nonwetting microfluidic capillary. Faraday Discussions, 146, 233-245, 2010. DOI: 10.1039/b925588e

  16. Joseph, KR and Neto, C. On the superhydrophobic properties of crystallized stearic acid. Aust. J. Chem., 63 (3), 525-528, 2010. DOI: 10.1071/CH09292

  17. Martelli, C; Canning, J; Khoury, T; Skivesen, N; Kristensen, M; Huyang, G; Jensen, P; Neto, C; Sum, TJ; Hovgaard, MB; Gibson, BC and Crossley, MJ. Self-assembled porphyrin microrods and observation of structure-induced iridescence. J. Mater. Chem., 20 (12), 2310-2316, 2010. DOI: 10.1039/b917695k

  18. Sriprom, W; Neto, C and Perrier, S. Rapid photochromic nanopatterns from block copolymers. Soft Matter, 6 (5), 909-914, 2010. DOI; 10.1039/b920133e

  19. Huyang, G; Canning, J; Gibson, BC; Khoury, T; Sum, TJ; Neto, C and Crossley, MJ. Focused ion beam processing and engineering of devices in self-assembled supramolecular structures. Nanotechnology, 20 (48), 485301 (6pp), 2009. DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/48/485301

  20. Neto, C; Joseph, KR and Brant, WR. On the superhydrophobic properties of nickel nanocarpets. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 11 (41), 9537-9544, 2009. DOI: 10.1039/b909899b

  21. Sriprom, W; James, M; Perrier, S and Neto, C. Ordered microphase separation in thin films of PMMA-PBA synthesized by RAFT: Effect of block polydispersity. Macromolecules, 42 (8), 3138-3146, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/ma9004428

  22. Neto, C; James, M and Telford, AM. On the composition of the top layer of microphase separated thin PS-PEO films. Macromolecules, 42 (13), 4801-4808, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/ma900690e