Executive Summary : | "Microfluidics is a special topic in nanotechnology, focusing on the engineering manipulation of ionic fluids and charged particles in submillimetre scales. This technology is widely used in medical diagnostic systems and cell separation. Microscale transport of polarized liquids or bio-samples over hydrophobic surfaces and motion of liquid droplets or bubbles becomes complicated due to velocity slip at the interface, which modifies hydrodynamics and electric double layer characteristics. The influence of the wettability of the bounding surface is important in microfluidics, as the surface wetting condition is measured through the macroscopic contact angle of the aqueous solution on the substrate. Electrokinetic transport of droplets or bubbles has been recognized as a powerful tool for encapsulating chemical or biological entities in an immiscible medium. However, classical electrokinetic theory is not sufficient to describe the underlying physics at the nanoscale. To address this, an improved model to describe electrokientics in nano-scale needs modifications to incorporate nanoscale interactions.
This project aims to investigate experimental hypothesis and elucidate underlying physical mechanisms through numerical modeling supplemented by asymptotic analysis. The study will be based on numerical simulation of the governing equations, supplemented with asymptotic analysis for some limiting cases. To resolve issues and impart stability to the numerical scheme, the proposed control-volume-based numerical method takes into account conservation principles at each cell." |