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CBES: Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science

Anna Balazs

Anna Balazs

University of Pittsburgh

balazs@pitt.edu
Balazs Group

CBES Research Areas:
Mechanical Enhancement of Photocatalysis, Multi-Scale Synthesis of Artificial Muscles, Autonomous Soft Microrobots

  • Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
  • Robert von der Luft Professor
PhD (1981), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Balazs group has developed hybrid computational approaches to model steric, hydrodynamic, and chemical interactions between deformable particles or capsules that move autonomously and communicate through the production and release of signaling molecules. Building on these advances, we aim to design self-regulating colonies and swarms of microrobots that can communicate, respond to external stimuli, and transduce energy to undergo a self-directed activity. The creative exploration of such physics-based models and simulations provides insight and inspiration to guide the experimental efforts. 

Key Publications

Using Torsion for Controllable Reconfiguration of Binary Nanoparticle Networks
Zhang, T., Mbanga, B.L., Yashin, V.V., Balazs, A.C.
ACS Nano11,2017, 3059-3066. 

Designing Synthetic Microcapsules That Undergo Biomimetic Communication and Autonomous Motion
Yashin, V., Kolmakov, G.V., Shum, H., Balazs, A.C.
Langmuir31,2015, 44. 

CBES Publications

View all CBES publications authored by Anna Balazs

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