Qiu Z., Tada S., Shen Y.
City University of New York, US
Keywords: concetration tuned interaction, MD simulation, particle assembly
External field-controlled particle structure growth is an active area in micron- or nano- material assembly. We will present preliminary experimental results about how to use particle concentration to tune interactions and structures in one gradient AC electric field. A suspension of Al2O3 particles and corn oil was used for particle structure assembly with one gradient AC electric field that is generated by a spatially periodical electrode array. The average Al2O3 particles diameter is 89.6um. The fluid chamber measures is driven to rotate around its central symmetric axis at 4 rpm to prevent particles from settling down onto the ‘bottom’. We imaged particle structures in suspensions of concentrations of 0.0001, 0.001 and 0.01. We found that the gradient AC electric field induced structures are very sensitive to the suspension concentrations. We are performing MD simulations about particle structuring in suspensions of different concentrations. So far, we have obtained one simulation result for a suspension of concentration of 0.00001 under 3kV/100Hz. Other simulations are still being performed for suspensions of concentrations of 0.0001, 0.001 and 0.01. We will compare simulations with experiments and find efficient control ways in the full paper.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2009: Biofuels, Renewable Energy, Coatings, Fluidics and Compact Modeling
Published: May 3, 2009
Pages: 509 - 512
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Micro & Bio Fluidics, Lab-on-Chip
ISBN: 978-1-4398-1784-1