Description:

Researchers are developing a novel approach to manipulating and controlling the dynamics of microscopic amounts of liquid based on using a spatially and temporally modulated illumination field to generate surface tension gradients driving the microflow. This approach allows us to explore many fundamental problems such as the well-known contact line instability in the spreading of thin liquid films and thermocapillary migration of and mixing in microdroplets. The key to achieving good mixing is designing a chaotic flow breaking all of the symmetry of the microdroplets. The picture above shows a dyed droplet mixing in a larger undyed drop via the process of chaotic advection, characterized by repeated stretching and folding of the dyed volume (right). This approach also promises to revolutionize such practical applications as the industrial process of coating chemical and biochemical analysis/synthesis using miniature microfluidic devices known as "labs-on-a-chip".
 

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