Dr Dipak K Sarker

I am an academic at the University of Brighton having previously work at the ÉNS in Paris, INRA in France, The Max-Plank Institute in Berlin and the University of East Anglia. I have expertise in subjects ranging from industrial engineering to cell biophysics and on to methods of chemical analysis. I teach aspects of industrial manufacture, physics, physical chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical technology, analytical chemistry, medicine formulation, radiochemistry, mathematics and statistics, biotechnology, quality control, drug product regulation and product licensing.

I try to engage students by making my lectures interactive, animated and frequently make use of models, props and demonstrations. I think my students think they learn best when they are shown how to access the best information and are taught the study skills needed to achieve this. I expect all students to do their best and use both natural and acquired skills to find the best route to solve a problem. I use blended learning, tutorials and seminars, flipped learning, modern educational psychology, innovative pedagogic practices, diverse media and published material, current educational and research information and real-world examples to populate my teaching, demonstrate principles, and serve as a bank of resources for students and my enabling my research. I think I am a masterly teacher as I am thorough and rigorous with high expectations, yet make students learn for themselves to empower themselves to be successful in their learning.

I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and that means I have demonstrated a depth of skill and innovative practices in educating students. I have also taught and examined across countries and institutions and at all levels from batchelor’s to doctoral level.

I have a longstanding interest in nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanophysics, soft-matter self-assemblies and coarse dispersions, including colloidal drug delivery systems and the surface adsorption of functionalising polymers. I study vaccine and particulate drug delivery systems in considerable depth. I work routinely with biosurfactants (such as proteins and peptides or gums), natural polymers, sustainable materials and synthetically modified materials.

I am interested in recycling and re-exploitation of spent and soiled or spent materials or polluted environments. I work with simple and complex foams and thin liquid films (foam lamellae). These structures relate to the quasi-2D-architectures created for a range of purposes; as means of sensing, synthesis and in their own right, to study processes such as statistical mechanics and energetics. As a nanotechnologist I also work in the field of miniaturised analytical systems – microfluidics, microarrays, sensors, diagnostic systems, and biosensors. I work in the context of product and process design and investigations associated with engineering and manufacturing process modelling. I work with the mechanics and rheology of a range of materials.

I am interested in 'invention' and equipment fabrication and design. I am fascinated by physical and engineering applications of mesophase materials (liquid crystals), coarse and colloidal dispersions, and complex fluids, such as ionic liquids, thermotropic materials, gels and emulsions.

Current research projects:

• Nicotine replacement therapy and drug delivery systems
• Flexographic printing and photo-reactive polymers
• Recycling and re-assignment of waste absorbent cotton materials
• Physics of droplet impact, spreading and wetting
• Nanoparticle and polymer drug delivery systems
• Drug stability and formulation
• Photo-dynamic nanoparticle therapy for cancer treatment
• Pharmaceutical, medical and food packaging
• Food science and food process technology
• Status indicating medical device materials
• Surfactant and detergent cleaning systems
• Environmentally responsive encapsulated metal nanoparticles for sensor use
• Complex fluids, ionic liquids and liquid crystals
• Cryogels and composite insulating materials
• Methods of assessment and evaluation in the sciences
• Chemistry and physics educational tools

Previous research projects:

• Enhancement of solubility in solid dispersions of drugs
• Surface functionalisation of latex nanobeads
• Plasma treatment of plastics for surface functionalisation
• Flax and hemp materials and their non-food use
• Nanomaterials in composite polymer materials
• Microemulsions for drug delivery
• Applications of coarse dispersions and complex fluids
• Thin liquid films and foams
• Wetting transitions and thin liquid films
• Surface adsorption of polymers and proteins
• Characterisation and identification of food authenticity
• Theological systems for the study of surface adsorbed materials
• Liposomal encapsulation of solids and therapeutics
• Food gel and dispersion characterisation
• Food preservation chemistry and processing
• Silver catalysts for disinfection and catalysis
• Foam films as models of cell membranes
• Droplet spreading mechanisms
• Food antioxidants and polyphenol chemistry
• Formulation of curcumin and insect protein
• Carbon nanomaterials and fluorescence applications
• Micelles in reactors for metal recovery
• Encapsulation of cytotoxic drugs in micelles and emulsions
• Learning methodologies in chemistry
• Miniature and developmental analytical systems

Research Centres and Groups

• Chemistry research group
• Biomaterials and medical devices research group

ResearchGate

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