Andrew's Home Page
| Andrew's Home Page | |
Over the years, an increasing number of groups have been requesting PMMA particles from us. We are very pleased to be able to help in this way, but the number of requests has grown to such a point that we have to recover at least some of our costs. Accordingly, we are going to start charging for supplying PMMA colloids. We stress that we are not starting a ‘business’ – we are aiming only to cover some of our costs.
If you want particles, please contact Andrew Schofield and tell him the specifications (radius, do you want them to crystallise etc) and the amount (see prices at the end). We will endeavour to synthesize what you want within the constraints of our own requirements. Andrew will let you have an estimate of when he can deliver. If we succeed in delivering what you want, we will invoice your institution according to charges set out at the bottom of this note. (We have set these charges after a consulting some of you; we may have got this wrong – tell us what you think, and we will keep this under review.) If you want something ‘non-standard’ (inclusion of dyes, non-PHSA stabiliser, non-core, etc.), we can negotiate on a case-by-case basis.
Research groups want PMMA particles for all kinds of reasons. Inevitably, some of the time, this will be for research that may overlap somewhat with what we do here in Edinburgh. Generally we have no problem with that. But in the unlikely, but possible, event that the overlap turns out to be very strong indeed, we may see a conflict of interest and decline to supply particles. (Again: we are not a business, but a university research group willing to serve the community while recovering some costs.) In order to enable us to make this judgement, we would appreciate it if, when you contact us, you could tell us very briefly what the particles are for, at least in general terms, to allow us to form an opinion about potential conflict of interest. In the rare cases where we do perceive a conflict, we may propose to waive the charge and collaborate!
For any additional information please e-mail me on abs@ph.ed.ac.uk
The main use of these web pages is to disseminate the information I have garnered about binary hard-sphere colloidal crystallisation over the years I have spent at Edinburgh University. With this aim in mind there will be links to pages containing scanning electron microscope photographs of binary crystals, laser light crystallography traces of these crystals and phase diagrams showing the size ratios and concentrations at which they occur. There will also be copies of reports and papers I have written on the subject which hopefully will be of use to those that wish to try and make samples for their own research.
My publication list
The University of Edinburgh Condensed Matter Group home page
The Weitz Group homepage gives information upon their experimental research projects into the behaviour of soft matter at Harvard University.
The home page of the NASA Glenn Research Center which is the centre of university/NASA collaborations studying colloidal phase behaviour under m-gravity conditions. Experiments performed in space so far include PHASE, (Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment) CDOT (Colloid Disorder-Order transition), CDOT2, C-Gel and C-Gel 2 (Colloidal Gelation), BCAT, B-CAT 2 and B-CAT 3(Binary Colloid Alloy Test). There is presently one set of experiments on the International Space Station and these are known by the acronym PCS (Physics of Colloids in Space) and up-to-date results from this experiment may be found by following the link.
Dr Paul Bartlett's homepage at Bristol University containing information of his work on binary crystallisation and optical tweezing.
Photonic band gap related research links.
What do you do on those cold, dark nights of winter? Well, personally I get together with my friends and write a book (I bet you thought I was going to say go down the pub). This fine, extremely amusing tome is titled 'The Quest For The Holy Ale' and the link leads to its own, exclusive web site from which you can read the synopsis, author bios, amusing anecdotes and, if impressed, make a purchase.
After a 30 years absence Richard Russell returns to Paris. This is because this is how long the statute of limitation is in France and he is now free to do so without the fear of arrest. The crime desecration (or defecation) of one large tower has passed into nightmare and he no longer looks like the spotty, long-haired tweenager he was upon his last visit so won't be recognized by the gendarmerie. Here are the images.
The summer of 2009 saw the team head off on a new tour. This time it was the turn of the Dalmatian coast to pay host; the lucky people. The trip consisted of a few days in Dubrovnik, Croatia before heading south into Montenegro and the towns of Kotor and Budva. Here are the images.
Autumn 2009. Having not been away for a whole 4 months, the team head off to Malta for some last sun in 2009. Boyd and Val make a rare appearance. Here are the photos.
The Munro List for those intrepid outdoor people who go off every Sunday into the wilds of Scotland and climb things.