Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Rico completed his undergraduate studies at Bristol University in the UK. After a brief period working as a research associate in inorganic synthesis, he returned to physical chemistry at Bristol to complete his PhD, under the supervision of Julian Eastoe, Terence Cosgrove and Peter Dowding.
In 2009, Rico came to Australia as a post-doc, initially at the University of Melbourne, where he worked on unravelling the problems of dynamic and fundamental forces in deformable droplet and bubble systems. In July 2012, he started as a lecturer in physical chemistry at Monash University.
Research interests
My research interests span a wide range of soft and colloidal systems, from bespoke, functional stabilisers to fundamental surface forces and biological systems. You can learn more about what we do at our group site.
Soft, self-assembled materials
Self-assembly, whereby molecules orient and arrange themselves into organised structures, is a crucial mechanism in many biological processes. We seek to learn from biology, and devise systems in which strutures can be obtained that provide desirable properties for templating, drug delivery and development of complex materials. Such self-assembled structures include micelles, liquid crystals and microemulsions, all of which have characteristic internal length scales on the order of nanometres.
Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a tool used to analyse the structure and interactions within such nano-structured soft matter systems. Specifically, the concept of contrast, whereby we make use of the strong difference in scattering between hydrogen and deuterium allows us to selectively highlight specific structures and interfaces within samples. We run SANS experiments at neutron sources around the world, including ISIS (Didcot, near Oxford, UK), the Institut Laue-Langevin (Grenoble, France) and the Bragg Institute (Lucas Heights, near Sydney, Australia).
Surface and colloidal forces
Colloidal systems such as emulsions, foams and particle dispersions continually experience dynamic forces in the form of brownian motion and gravity. These, and ever-present surface forces may encourage flocculation, phase separation or coalescence. Particularly in emulsions and foams, the interplay of surface forces, hydrodynamics during collisions and deformations of bubbles and droplets forms a complex picture. Deconvoluting this requires carefully chosen experiments and rigorous theoretical modelling.
We are especially interested in complex, multi-component systems, where more exotic colloidal forces can occur. These include polymer bridging interactions, depletion interactions and structural interactions. Such forces are highly dependent on the type and concentration of additives, offering new pathways for functional complex fluids.
Stimulus-responsive stabilisers
Most colloidal systems in real applications contain one or more stabilisers in the form of surface active small molecules (surfactants), polymers and particles. By incorporating chemical functionality into these species that allows their properties to be changed by some stimulus, systems with enhanced capabilities can be developed. These might include drug carriers that can release their payload on command, precious catalysts that can be captured after use, and systems for capturing pollutants.
A stimulus to effect a chemical change can be internal (such as a change in pH, ionic strength, temperature, etc.) or from external sources such as light, electrical or magnetic fields. Of these, light is particularly appealing as it is a simple, clean and low-energy method to affect such changes. Many chemicals experience a reaction to light of certain wavelengths, taking the form of either a chemical reaction (photochemistry) or a change in shape (photoisomerisation). Our primary interest lies with the latter class, and in particular the azobenzene family of chemicals.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- surfactants
- AFM
- self-assembly
- emulsions
- kinetics
- colloids
- soft matter
- tensiometry
- SANS
- formulation
Network
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Enhanced Performance in Nanosized Metal Oxides
Tabor, R., Sastry, M., King, B. & Patti, A.
1/08/21 → 1/04/25
Project: Research
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Encapsulation beyond microplastics
Tabor, R., Dagastine, R., Teo, B. M., Berry, J. D. & Garnier, G.
29/06/21 → 28/06/24
Project: Research
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ARC Training Centre for Green Chemistry in Manufacturing
Patti, A., Junkers, T., Raston, C. L., Barrow, C. J., Hapgood, K., Gates, W. P., Adcock, J. L., Sutti, A., Rajkhowa, R., Saito, K., Tabor, R., Hearn, M., Tanksale, A., Garnier, G., Franco, C., Tang, Y., Zhang, W., Heimann, K., Crawford, S., Height, M., Cock, B., Warner, J. C., Buckingham, E., King, B., Jayaratne, V., Scott, J., Bury, P., Chan, P. W. H., Robinson, A., Semple, J., Smullen, R., Ciampi, S., Sun, G., Chong, J., Miltenoff, J., Moreno , C., Innes, L., Aldrich, C., Lovelady, C., James, I., Phillips, D., Pham, H., Sacher, M., Woods, R., Francis, P., Pas, E., Wood, B., Sun, B., Blair, V., Sastry, M., Dowley, A., McCann, K. & Albijanic, B.
Infineum International Limited (United Kingdom), Plantworx Pty Ltd, Green Eco Technologies (Australia) PTY LTD , The Trustee for Steven Mantzaris Family Trust, CSL Behring (Australia), Bioworks Australia Pty Ltd (trading as Bioworks Australia), Australian Research Council (ARC), BOC Australia Pty Limited, Phytovision Pty Ltd, Beyond Benign
15/12/20 → 14/12/24
Project: Research
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Sustainable surfactants from Australian oilseeds
Tabor, R., Tuck, K., Wilkinson, B. & Pearson, G.
11/02/20 → 10/02/24
Project: Research
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Neutron scattering techniques as probes to study phase change colloidal systems
Tabor, R., Vidallon, M. & Teo, B. M.
1/07/20 → 30/06/21
Project: Research
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Components of cocamidopropyl betaine: Surface activity and self-assembly of pure alkyl amidopropyl betaines
Kelleppan, V. T., Butler, C. S. G., Williams, A. P., Vidallon, M. L. P., Giles, L. W., King, J. P., Sokolova, A. V., de Campo, L., Pearson, G. R., Tabor, R. F. & Tuck, K. L., 5 Jan 2023, In: Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 656, Part B, 16 p., 130435.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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Polyethylenimine-Silica-Magnetic Nanoparticle Composites for Efficient Extraction of Dissolved Copper from Aqueous Solutions and Multiphase Mixtures
Semenova, A., Vidallon, M. L. P., Suzuki, K., Follink, B., Brown, P. L. & Tabor, R. F., 23 Feb 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: ACS Applied Nano Materials. 6, 5, p. 3718–3727 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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The structure of colloidal polyethylenimine–silica nanocomposite microparticles
Semenova, A., Giles, L. W., Vidallon, M. L. P., Follink, B., Brown, P. L. & Tabor, R. F., May 2023, In: Particuology. 76, p. 86-100 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Carbon dots as a ‘green’ reagent to produce shape and size controlled gold nanoparticles for application in pollutant degradation
Lu, Z., Giles, L. W., Teo, B. M. & Tabor, R. F., Jan 2022, In: Colloid and Interface Science Communications. 46, 6 p., 100571.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
3 Citations (Scopus) -
Copper-Binding Properties of Polyethylenimine-Silica Nanocomposite Particles
Semenova, A., Giles, L. W., Vidallon, M. L. P., Follink, B., Brown, P. L. & Tabor, R. F., 19 Aug 2022, In: Langmuir. 38, 34, p. 10585–10600 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus)
Activities
- 1 Consultancy
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FB RICE (External organisation)
Boon Mian Teo (Member) & Richard Francis Tabor (Advisor)
15 Apr 2018 → 30 Apr 2018Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Consultancy
Press/Media
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News Corp: On-the-spot lifesaver -- Gadget buys time in an emergency
Marek Bialkower, Clare Manderson, Heather McLiesh, Rico Tabor & Gil Garnier
1/11/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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INNOVATION-INTELLIGENCE.COM: Haemokinesis, Monash partner for laser blood incubator
Clare Manderson, Heather McLiesh, Rodrigo Curvello dos Santos, Rico Tabor, Jim Manolios & Gil Garnier
24/09/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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THE HERALD SUN: Timely transfusion test -- Laser system to speed patient blood delivery
Clare Manderson, Heather McLiesh, Rodrigo Curvello dos Santos, Rico Tabor, Jim Manolios & Gil Garnier
20/09/19
2 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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3AW RADIO: Breakfast Show Interview
Clare Manderson, Heather McLiesh, Rodrigo Curvello dos Santos, Rico Tabor, Jim Manolios & Gil Garnier
20/09/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature