Complex liquids drying on structured surfaces

The goal of this project is to understand how droplets of complex liquids dry on pre-structured, patterned or porous surfaces and the resulting patterns formed. For example, inkjet and screen printing is increasingly being used in "Industry 4.0" applications to create functional structures on surfaces, where controlling the drying is highly important. The project is principally experimental, and will investigate the resulting patterns created from changes in liquid formulation (for example for colloidal density or shape in colloidal liquids) and substrate properties, to ultimately devise strategies for control of droplets and the resulting deposits after spreading and evaporation. This project is one of a number of related projects in the theme of "Designed self-assembly of nanoparticles within fluids and at interfaces", combining Mathematicians, Chemists, Engineers and Design specialists, and hence complementary modelling will also be undertaken alongside the experiments in a collaborative team.