| Use of an electric
field for controlling the self-assembly of nano-particles |
The Aubry group focuses on the manipulation
of nano-particles in a microfluidic device by means
of a non-uniform electric field, a phenomenon which
can be used for particle separation, transport, clustering
and chaining. Particles experience hydrodynamic and
electrical forces, the latter being due to the polarization
of the particles due to the mismatch between the dielectric
constants of the fluid and that of the particles, and
the non-uniformity of the electric field. When particles
get close to each other, electrical and hydrodynamic
particle-particle interactions also play an important
role in the particles dynamics. In addition, nano-sized
particles are subject to Brownian forces which need
to be overcome for controlled motion. The Aubry group
has developed both experimental and numerical capabilities
to study this problem, the latter consisting of direct
numerical simulations which solve the exact continuum
equations of motion for both the fluid and the particles
without using any modeling. The UG student will extend
this capability to move particles located on a free-surface
or at the interface between two liquids, with the goal
of providing a superior means to control particle self-assembly. |
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