Ben Humphreys

I am a polymer, colloid and surface scientist with experience studying responsive polymer brushes and the lipolysis of thin triglyceride films. I am particularly interested in the effects of environmental changes such as temperature and pH on these systems and how additives and reaction products such as salt and osmolytes can influence their behavior.

Publications :

1.            Assembly of Multicompartment Glycopolymer Worms in Aqueous Solution. Jordan Lovegrove, Ben Humphreys, Chin Ken Wong, Liliana de Campo, Christopher Garvey, Martina Stenzel, Macromolecules 2023, DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02466

2.            The Influence of pH on the Lipase Digestion of Nanosized Triolein, Diolein and Monoolein Films. Ben Humphreys, José Campos-Terán, Thomas Arnold, Lone Baunsgaard, Jesper Vind, Cedric Dicko, Tommy Nylander, Frontiers in Soft Matter 2022, DOI:10.3389/frsfm.2022.929104

3.            Nanoscale Structural and Mechanical Characterization of Thin Bicontinuous Cubic Phase Lipid Films. Andrea Ridolfi, Ben Humphreys, Lucrezia Caselli, Costanza Montis, Tommy Nylander, Debora Berti, Marco Brucale, Francesco Valle, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 2022, DOI:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2021.112231

4.            Geometrical Confinement Modulates the Thermoresponse of a Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Brush. Ben Humphreys, Isaac Gresham, Josh Willott, Edwin Johnson, Timothy Murdoch, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Andrew Nelson, Stuart Prescott, Macromolecules 2021, DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02775

5.            Enrichment of Charged Monomers Explains Non-Monotonic Polymer Volume Fraction Profiles of Multi-Stimulus Responsive Copolymer Brushes. Edwin Johnson, Josh Willott, Isaac Gresham, Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Stuart Prescott, Andrew Nelson, Wiebe de Vos, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Langmuir, 2020, DOI:10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01502

6.            Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Response to Salt Concentration and Anion Identity: A Brush-on-Brush Study. Ben Humphreys, Edwin Johnson, Erica Wanless, Grant Webber, Langmuir, 2019, DOI:10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b00695

7.            Temperature Dependent Specific Ion Effects in Mixed Salt Environments on a Thermoresponsive Poly(Oligoethylene Glycol Methacrylate) Brush. Edwin Johnson, Timothy Murdoch, Isaac Gresham, Ben Humphreys, Stuart Prescott, Andrew Nelson, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2019, DOI:10.1039/c8cp06644b

8.            Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study of Weak Polyelectrolyte Brushes in Salt Mixtures. Joshua Willott, Ben Humphreys, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Wiebe de Vos Langmuir 2019, DOI:10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b03838

9.            Influence of Molecular Weight on PNIPAM Brush Modified Colloidal Silica Particles. Ben Humphreys, Stuart Prescott, Timothy Murdoch, Andrew Nelson, Elliot Gilbert, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Soft Matter 2019,DOI: 10.1039/C8SM01824C

10.         Effect of Ionic Strength and Salt Identity on Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) Brush Modified Colloidal Silica Particles. Ben Humphreys, Erica Wanless, Grant Webber, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2018, DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.01.058

11.         Specific Ion Effects on Thermoresponsive Polymer Brushes: Comparison to Other Architectures. Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Edwin Johnson, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2018, DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.04.086

12.         The Role of Copolymer Composition on the Specific Ion and Thermo-Response of Ethylene Glycol-Based Brushes. Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Edwin Johnson, Stuart Prescott, Andrew Nelson, Erica Wanless, Grant Webber, Polymer 2018, DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2018.01.053

13.         Enhanced Specific Ion Effects in Ethylene Glycol-based Thermoresponsive Polymer Brushes. Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Joshua Willott, Stuart Prescott, Andrew Nelson, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2017, DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.11.044

14.         Specific Anion Effects on the Internal Structure of a Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Brush. Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Joshua Willott, Kasimir Gregory, Stuart Prescott, Andrew Nelson, Erica Wanless, Grant Webber, Macromolecules 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01001

15.         Specific Ion Modulated Thermoresponse of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Brushes. Ben Humphreys, Joshua Willott, Timothy Murdoch, Grant Webber, Erica Wanless, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2016, DOI: 10.1039/c5cp07468a

16.         Anion-Specific Effects on the Behavior of pH-Sensitive Polybasic Brushes. Joshua Willott, Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Steve Edmondson, Erica Wanless, Grant Webber, Langmuir 2015, DOI:10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b00116

17.         Hydrophobic Effects within the Dynamic pH-Response of Polybasic Tertiary Amine Methacrylate Brushes. Joshua Willott, Ben Humphreys, Timothy Murdoch, Steve Edmondson, Grant Webber and Erica J. Wanless, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2015, DOI:10.1039/c4cp05292g

18.         Critical Salt Effects in the Swelling Behaviour of a Weak Polybasic Brush. Joshua Willott, Timothy Murdoch, Ben Humphreys, Steve Edmondson, Grant Webber, and Erica Wanless, Langmuir 2014, DOI:10.1021/la4047275