Date of Award

12-24-2025

Date Published

January 2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Physics

Advisor(s)

Jennifer Ross

Second Advisor

Jennifer Schwarz

Keywords

Active bath;Active matter;LLPS;Nanoscale;Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics

Subject Categories

Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Physics

Abstract

The idea that the activity of an active bath can act as an effective temperature and alter system behavior has been theorized and demonstrated for micron-scale systems, but it has not yet been shown for nanoscale systems. Previous studies have suggested that, although passive and active systems can be combined at the nanoscale, activity from the active system typically disrupts and destroys the passive system. In this work, I attempt to create an enzyme-driven active bath to control the liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) and condensation of a protein. I find that enzymatic activity enhances phase separation, effectively driving the LLPS system into a higher-temperature regime. These results demonstrate that activity from enzymes can act as an effective temperature, shifting the system along its phase diagram. To perform this work, I develop a microfluidic chamber that can exchange chemicals, allowing precise control of the environment while maintaining enzymatic activity. I examined several chamber designs and evaluated their ability to support LLPS experiments to identify an optimal surface treatment for this thesis.

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Open Access

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