Anisotropic Liquid Dielectrophoresis and Interfacial Forces
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Strathclyde
Department Name: Mathematics and Statistics
Abstract
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Publications
Corson L
(2014)
Deformation of a nearly hemispherical conducting drop due to an electric field: Theory and experiment
in Physics of Fluids
Corson LT
(2016)
Dynamic response of a thin sessile drop of conductive liquid to an abruptly applied or removed electric field.
in Physical review. E
Corson, L T
(2016)
Electro-Manipulation of Droplets for Microfluidic Applications
Mottram NJ
(2016)
Flow-induced delayed Freedericksz transition.
in Physical review. E
Tsakonas C
(2014)
Electric field induced deformation of hemispherical sessile droplets of ionic liquid
in Journal of Electrostatics
| Description | New knowledge and methods generated: (1) We have shown that the deformation of hemispherical droplets of a conducting liquid by the electric field in a capacitor obeys a scaling law in which the change in droplet height is proportional to the square of the electric field and the square of the radius of the droplet at its base. We have developed equations which also explain and describe the experimental dependences of this static deformation on the electric field and on the length-scales in the system when the droplet deviates away from an initial hemispherical shape. We have further explained and quantified the time dependent processes by which the droplets deform immediately after an electric field is applied on short timescales, which is dominated by electric and surface tension effects, before the longer timescale response which is dominated by surface tension and viscosity effect. (2) We have developed a new relatively simple and compact manometer geometry with an applied electric field which allows a complete investigation of the competition between flow and electric field alignment in a nematic liquid crystal. Normally an electric field applied across a layer of nematic liquid crystal causes the molecules to reorient towards the direction of the electric field when a voltage above a critical value is applied to the plates that confine the liquid crystal - this is the well-known Freederiksz effect. We are able to use electrical forces to draw the nematic liquid crystal into one arm of the manometer and then remove the voltage so the height difference between the two arms decays back towards zero providing access to a range of shear/flow rates in a single experimental run. During this decay we have been able to observe, and explain theoretically, how the flow delays Freedericksz transition to higher voltage. (3) We have shown how to electrically induce spreading of drops of nematic liquid crystals to create forced wetting on a solid surface. We have quantified and can explain the observed voltage dependence for conventional nematic liquid crystals at different temperatures, and for highly dispersive nematics at different frequencies of the applied voltage. When the droplet has been driven into a film we can create a periodic surface deformation. The research has generated new insight into the role of the alignment of the molecules in the liquid, and associated internal elasticity, in both the spreading and the wrinkling phenomena. We are finishing work to further develop these techniques to provide a new method to observe the effects of, and quantify, certain physical parameters that are usually difficult to measure in nematic liquid crystals. |
| Exploitation Route | This work could be developed in may possible directions, including new and improved methods for manipulating small droplets of liquid crystal, development of tunable micro-lenses, and new methods for measuring certain parameters which are normally difficult to measure in liquid crystals. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | From Carrot Juice to TVs: the story of liquid crystals - video This is the story of how a simple experiment on carrot juice led to the revolution in TV technology, leading to large flat screen displays used around the world. This video was created by Wiretrace (www.wiretrace.net) and the project team at the University of Strathclyde (Drs Lindsey Corson, Brian Duffy, Profs Nigel Mottram, Stephen Wilson) and Nottingham Trent University (Prof. Carl Brown and Dr Costas Tsakonas) as part of the "Anisotropic Liquid Dielectrophoresis and Interfacial Forces"project funded by the EPSRC (EP/J009873/1). Images were kindly provided by Dr Stephen Cowling, University of York. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | EPSRC iCASE Studentship with Merck (Chemicals) Ltd |
| Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2016 |
| End | 10/2020 |
| Title | Experimental data for dynamic response of a thin sessile drop of conductive liquid to an applied voltage |
| Description | Experimental data and analysis file for dynamic response of a thin sessile drop of conductive liquid to an applied voltage. The dataset comprises of one Excel file which contains data on height changes against time for a twenty voltages and one Matlab file used to extract and analyse the data in the Excel file. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not recorded |
| Title | Flow-induced delayed Freedericksz transition |
| Description | CSV data and Matlab file for figures in "Flow-induced delayed Freedericksz transition" published in PRE 2016 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Not recorded |
| Description | Joint research with Nottingham Trent University |
| Organisation | Nottingham Trent University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | University of Strathclyde researchers worked on this project with researchers from Nottingham Trent University. |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Strathclyde undertook the theoretical analysis and computations. Nottingham Trent University undertook the physical experiments. |
| Impact | Recently we were awarded and EPSRC iCASE award with Merck (Chemicals) Limited which arose directly from our collaboration with Nottingham Trent University. |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | 13th European Conference on Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Antariksh Saxena. Title: Anisotropic dielectrophoresis - nematic liquid crystals. Meeting: 13th European Conference on Liquid Crystals Venue: University of Manchester, Manchester. Dates: 7th to 11th September 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | 13th European Conference on Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Nigel Mottram. Title: Bending, flexing, wrinkling and snapping of droplets and films of isotropic and nematic liquids. Meeting: 13th European Conference on Liquid Crystals. Venue: University of Manchester, Manchester. Date: 7th to 11th September 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | 18th European Conference on Mathematics for Industry (ECMI 2014) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Nigel Mottram. Title: Deformation of liquid drops and thin films under the influence of an electric field. Meeting: 18th European Conference on Mathematics for Industry (ECMI 2014). Venue: Taormina, Italy. Date: 9th to 13th June 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 1st International Conference on Micro and Nanofluidics (Flow 14) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Stephen Wilson. Title: Electric field induced deformation of sessile droplets. Meeting: 1st International Conference on Micro and Nanofluidics (Flow 14). Venue: University of Twente, The Netherlands. Date: 18th to 21st May 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 26th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Liquid dielectrophoresis and wrinkling on the surface of a fluid layer. Meeting: 26th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting. Venue: University of Aberdeen. Date: 29th May 2013. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | 27th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Deformation of nearly hemispherical drops of conducting fluid by an electric field. Meeting: 27th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting. Venue: University of St Andrews. Date: 15th May 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 28th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Spontaneous wrinkling of a layer of nematic liquid crystal. Meeting: 28th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting. Venue: University of Glasgow, Glasgow. Date: 28th May 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | 67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Electric field induced deformation of sessile drops. Meeting: 67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics. Venue: San Francisco, California, USA. Dates: 23rd to 25th November 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | 6th International Workshop on Bubble and Drop Interfaces 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Carl Brown. Title: Anisotropic dielectro-wetting - nematic liquid crystals. Meeting: 6th International Workshop on Bubble and Drop Interfaces 2015. Venue: Potsdam/Golm, Germany. Dates: 6th to 10th June 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Anisotropic Dielectrophoresis - Nematic Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Carl Brown. Title: Anisotropic Dielectrophoresis - Nematic Liquid Crystals. Meeting: 9th International Meeting on Electrowetting and Related Micro/Electrofluidic Science and Technology. Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Date: 23rd to 25th June 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Anisotropic Dielectrophoresis - Nematic Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Carl Brown. Title: Anisotropic Dielectrophoresis - Nematic Liquid Crystals. Meeting: International Conference on Liquid Crystals (ILCC 2014). Venue: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Date: 29th June to 4th July 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Attendance at The Mathematics of Liquid Crystals programme at INI in Cambridge |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Research presentations delivered by Mottram on 24th January and 28th February 2013 during "The Mathematics of Liquid Crystals" programme at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | British Applied Mathematics Colloquium 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Liquid dielectrophoresis and wrinkling on the surface of a fluid layer. Meeting: BAMC 2013. Venue: University of Leeds. Date: 12th April 2013. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | British Applied Mathematics Colloquium 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Deformation of nearly hemispherical conducting drops by an electric field. Meeting: BAMC 2014. Venue: Cardiff University. Date: 30th April 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | British Applied Mathematics Colloquium 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Spontaneous wrinkling of a thin layer of nematic liquid crystal. Meeting: The 4th Joint British Mathematical Colloquium and British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (incorporating the 57th British Applied Mathematics Colloquium). Venue: Cambridge University. Dates: 30th March to 2nd April 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | British Liquid Crystal Society Conference 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Antariksh Saxena. Title: Anisotropic dielectrophoresis - nematic liquid crystals. Meeting: The British Liquid Crystal Society Conference 2015 (BLCS 2015). Venue: Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Dates: 30th March to 1st April 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Electric field induced deformation of sessile droplets |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Electric field induced deformation of sessile droplets. Meeting: 9th International Meeting on Electrowetting and Related Micro/Electrofluidic Science and Technology. Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Date: 23rd to 25th June 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Electric field induced deformation of sessile droplets |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by Dr Lindsey Corson at British Council Researcher Links Workshop on Soft Matter: Analysis, Application and Challenges meeting held at National Institute for Mathematical Sciences (NIMS), Daejeon, South Korea on 18th to 21st March 2014. This workshop comprised about 30 delegates from the UK and the Far East and was organised under the British Council Researchers Links scheme to open new avenues for interdisciplinary research connections between the United Kingdom and the Far East in mathematical modelling and condensed matter physics. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | From Carrot Juice to TVs: The Story of Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Multimedia publication titled "From Carrot Juice to TVs: The Story of Liquid Crystals". Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWI3adR8r5U |
| Description | Invited seminar: Bending, flexing, wrinkling and snapping of liquid drops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar at the University of Dundee: Bending, flexing, wrinkling and snapping of liquid drops |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Leeds University, Applied Mathematics Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Nigel Mottram. Title: Bending, flexing, wrinkling and snapping of liquid drops. Meeting: Applied Mathematics Seminar. Venue: Leeds University. Date: 27th April 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Liquid dielectrophoresis and liquid crystal dielectrophoresis (L-DEP) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk by Carl Brown at I-CAMP'13 summer school on Liquid Crystals in Cambridge, UK, June 26 - July 6, 2013 (http://i-camp.colorado.edu/i-camp2013/). . No recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://i-camp.colorado.edu/i-camp2013/ |
| Description | Mathematical Sciences Research Seminar, University of Southampton |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Nigel Mottram. Title: Deformation of liquid drops and thin films under the influence of an electric field. Meeting: Mathematical Sciences Seminar. Venue: University of Southampton. Date: 6th May 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Mathematics of Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited participant of Isaac Newton Institute programme, Mathematics of Liquid Crystals, Cambridge (Corson). Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Mathematics of Liquid Crystals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited participant in Mathematics of Liquid Crystals, Cambridge (Mottram). Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Rheologists in Scotland II |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Wrinkling of a layer of nematic liquid crystal. Meeting: Rheologists in Scotland II. Venue: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Date: 26th May 2015. Note: Joint winner of the prize for the best oral presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Session chair for Session 12: Special Session on Dielectrophoresis 1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Session chair for Session 12: Special Session on Dielectrophoresis 1 at 4th Advances in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics AMN 2013, South Bend, USA, 24-26 May 2013. No recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Spreading and super spreading of droplets driven by liquid dielectrophoresis (L-DEP) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at 4th Advances in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics AMN 2013, South Bend, USA, 24-26 May 2013. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Superspreading using interface localized liquid dielectrophoresis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of paper by Brown at Joint Smart and Green Interfaces Conference, COST MP1106 Annual Workshop and 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Microscale, Marseille, 22nd to 24th April 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | The Mathematics of Liquid Crystals Young Researchers' Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Liquid dielectrophoresis and wrinkling on the surface of a fluid layer. Meeting: The Mathematics of Liquid Crystals Young Researchers' Meeting. Venue: Isaac Newton Institute, University of Cambridge. Date: 21st May 2013. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | University of Glasgow, Applied Mathematics Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenter: Lindsey Corson. Title: Deformation of sessile drops and thin films by an electric field. Meeting: Applied Mathematics Seminar. Venue: University of Glasgow. Date: 23rd October 2014. Not recorded |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |