PhD Candidate
Project: Soot structure and optical properties
My main research interest is Aerosols. Through my M.Sc. research at Shiraz University, I have been studying state-of-the-art magnetic drug targeting methods for more efficient delivery of aerosol medications to specific sites of human airway. Moving to UBC for a PhD, my attraction to application of aerosols in combustion processes led me to the topic of soot formation. My PhD research focuses on the morphology of soot, particularly the effect of polydispersity- i.e., variations in primary particle size, on different morphological properties. I perform Langevin dynamics modeling, microscopy, image processing and mass-mobility analysis on typical and atypical polydisperse soot to highlight the structural changes when soot undergoes agglomeration in post-flame areas. The objective for this research is to improve black carbon diagnostics by correcting for the influences of atypical nonuniformity in primaries. In a broader perspective, such studies can also expand our understanding of how black carbon contributes to climate change.