Piece description from the artist
The surface of a condensed phase has special properties that are different from the interior. If a molecule thermodynamically "likes" being surrounded by other molecules on all sides, at the surface that molecule is exposed and thermodynamically "unhappy". If the atoms in a material have a three dimensional preferred bonding pattern, at the surface some of those bonds are unsatisfied.
Sometimes a molecule will segregate to a surface or interface. Usually these surface enriched molecules are pushed out of the bulk (thermodynamically – no maxwell's demons here!). In this case, the molecules at the surface are usually different from the ones in the bulk interior. Since something has to go to the surface, thermodynamics favors keeping the best conditions for the majority of molecules in the bulk, and the less common chemistries are enriched at the surface.
In the case of polymers, even a subtle difference like deuteration can cause noticeable surface enrichment. Polymers are long floppy molecules with low mixing entropy, so a number of effects are magnified.
This artist's creative and somewhat surreal rendition of surface enrichment uses archival Prismacolor art markers and Windsor and Newton archival pigment markers with Sakura pigment ink fine line pens and metallic ink pens on acid free archival RendR brand opaque paper.
Dr. Regina Valluzzi has an extensive scientific background in nanotechnology and biophysics. She has been a scientist in the chemical industry, a green chemistry researcher, a research professor at the engineering school at Tufts, a start-up founder engaged in technology commercialization, and a start-up and commercialization consultant.
Even during periods of intense activity as a scientist, Dr. Valluzzi has always held a strong interest in the visual arts and in visual information. While she majored in Materials Science at MIT, she also obtained a second degree in music and a minor in visual studies. Visual arts have managed to permeate her technical work; during her Ph.D in Polymer Science and Engineering at UMass Amherst, she completed a thesis that required advanced electron microscopy, image analysis, and theoretical data modeling. These experiences provided the visual insight and information that now influences much of her artwork.
Dr. Valluzzi’s work has been included in private collections across the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Dubai and Malta, and in the corporate collection of "Seyfarth Shaw" Boston law offices around Boston. She has a selection of pieces on loan to the MIT Materials Science and Engineering Department as indoor public art. Her accomplishments include having published thirty articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, having made several scientific patents, having been a subject matter expert for an encyclopedia chapter, and having been invited to speak at science talks across the US, Europe, and Japan.
Her newsletter is a good source of ongoing information: http://eepurl.com/daiLQ
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