Senior Research Fellow, UniSA
Active Colloids (Theory)
PhD, Physics, Emory University (Atlanta, US)
Dr Popescu is an applied theory physicist with complementary training in numerical analysis. After his undergraduate studies at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, in 1995 he started his PhD work on modelling nucleation and growth of clusters on surfaces in the early stages (submonolayer regime) of homoepitaxial Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) at Emory University.
In 2001 he moved to the Max-Planck-Institute for Metal Research, Stuttgart, Germany, as a research scientist the department of “Inhomogeneous Condensed Matter” lead by Prof. Dr. Rer. Nat. Siegrfried Dietrich. The research in Stuttgart focused on microscopic models for the dynamics of monolayer films, with a view on applications connected with nano-fluidics, and on the theoretical description of reactive adsorbates on catalyst-decorated substrates. He joined the Ian Wark Research Institute at UniSA in 2007.
My present research interests are in the areas of:
● theoretical models and applications of phoresis via self-generated concentration gradients (active colloids).
● capillary flows and thin-film drainage in chemically heterogeneous environments (with a view on applications in micro- and nano-fluidics and in AFM measurements).
● diffusion and attachment of small particles to interfaces.
Phoretic Motion of Spheroidal Particles Due To Self-Generated Solute Gradients, M.N. Popescu, S. Dietrich, M. Tasinkevych, and J. Ralston, Eur. Phys. J. E 31, 351 (2010).
Confinement effects on diffusiophoretic self-propellers, M.N. Popescu, S. Dietrich, and G. Oshanin, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 194702 (2009).
Capillary Rise with Velocity Dependent Dynamic Contact Angle, M.N. Popescu, J. Ralston, and R. Sedev, Langmuir 24, 12710 (2008).
Diffusive spreading and mixing of fluid monolayers, M.N. Popescu and S. Dietrich, J. Phys.: Condens. Matt. 17, S4189 (2005).
Wetting on Structured Substrates, S. Dietrich, M.N. Popescu, and M. Rauscher, J. Phys.: Condens. Matt. 17, S577 (2005).