Raffaele Mezzenga is a soft condensed matter scientist, currently heading the Laboratory of Food and Soft Materials at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. [1] He is among the 0.1% most cited scientists according to the Clarivate 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list in the cross-field discipline.
Prof. Mezzenga received his M.S. in Materials Science (1997) from Perugia University in Italy, while actively working for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) [2] and NASA (NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS91), followed by a PhD in the field of Polymer Physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland (2001).
Mezzenga did postdoctoral research on semiconductive polymer colloids [3] at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and then moved to the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne as research scientist, working on the self-assembly of surfactants, natural amphiphiles and lyotropic liquid crystals. [4] [5] In 2005 he was hired as Associate Professor in the Physics Department of the University of Fribourg, and he then joined ETH Zurich [6] on 2009 as Full Professor.
His research mainly focuses on the fundamental understanding of self-assembly processes in polymers, lyotropic liquid crystals, biological and food colloidal systems. His work has led to over 400 scientific publications and about 20 patents. He has made seminal contributions to several fields of soft condensed matter such as in protein aggregation, biopolymers and surfactants self-organisation. [7] He has pioneered the use of protein-based materials in the establishment of new technologies for environmental remediation, health and advanced materials design. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
Prof. Mezzenga was the recipient of the 2011 John H. Dillon Medal [16] by the American Physical Society. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2017. [17] Other awards include the 2011 Young Scientist Research Award of the American Oil Chemist Society, the 2013 Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigator Award [18] [19] of the American Chemical Society and the 2019 Spark Award [20] for the most promising ETH Zurich invention in 2019.
Mezzenga served as an Executive, Associate and Guest Editor for various journals including Food Biophysics, Food Hydrocolloids, Polymer International, Trends in Food Science, and has been a board member of Swiss Chemical Society [21] for over 15 years.
Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal can flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a common direction as in a solid. There are many types of LC phases, which can be distinguished by their optical properties. The contrasting textures arise due to molecules within one area of material ("domain") being oriented in the same direction but different areas having different orientations. An LC material may not always be in an LC state of matter.
Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) are polymers with the property of liquid crystal, usually containing aromatic rings as mesogens. Despite uncrosslinked LCPs, polymeric materials like liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and liquid crystal networks (LCNs) can exhibit liquid crystallinity as well. They are both crosslinked LCPs but have different cross link density. They are widely used in the digital display market. In addition, LCPs have unique properties like thermal actuation, anisotropic swelling, and soft elasticity. Therefore, they can be good actuators and sensors. One of the most famous and classical applications for LCPs is Kevlar, a strong but light fiber with wide applications, notably bulletproof vests.
Lyotropic liquid crystals result when amphiphiles, which are both hydrophobic and hydrophilic, dissolve into a solution that behaves both like a liquid and a solid crystal. This liquid crystalline mesophase includes everyday mixtures like soap and water.
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