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Research

Research Projects #

I am currently working in the following projects.

Crystallization of asymmetric colloids #

We study the crystallization process of square-shaped Brownian particles. These particles interact via hard-sphere interaction and crystallizes with various symmetries under osmotic compression. Both translational and orientational fluctuations need to be taken into account to understand the crystallization dynamics. We will also look at defect dynamics in such systems.

colloids
Figure : Shows a two-dimensional colloidal assembly of square-shaped particles

Mechanical properties of tissue cells #

We study the mechanical response of tissue cells by stretching them with optical tweezers. Tether like structures are observed in our experiments. This is mostly dependent on the actin network of the cytoskeleton of cells, and how myosin helps in reorganization of the actin network.

tissue_cells
Figure : Shows a tissue cell adhered to the cover glass and optical handles attached to the cell membrane

The curious case of red blood cells (RBCs) #

Human Red Blood Cells (also known as RBCs) are a cruial component of blood. These cells travel through blood capillaries which are much smaller than their typical size, so they are highly deformable. We study the deformibility of RBCs using optical tweezer based force-elongation measurements.

rbc_cells
Figure : (left) Brightfield image of Human red blood cells. (right) Deforming RBCs by pulling a polystyrene bead using optical tweezers