Xin Yong, Binhampton University State University of New York

Hassan Masoud, Michigan Technological University

Self-assembled nanomaterials find important applications in biological, optical, and electrical devices, yet a substantial fraction of them awaits associated manufacturing processes capable of scaling up to mass production. Soft solution processing has been widely recognized as a simple and facile method for synthesizing nanomaterials through bottom-up self assembly, utilizing the evaporation of a liquid solution containing nonvolatile solutes. The self-assembled structures in evaporating liquid masses of different geometry are kinetically trapped in nonequilibrium states, which are sensitively determined by the physicochemical dynamics of the evaporative process. Since the functionalities of the materials closely ties with the assembled structure, we need a deeper understanding of the transport and assembly of a variety of particulates in drying droplets, rivulets, and films, in order to exert control on the assembly process and thereby the final structure. Recent progress on the coffee-ring effects has demonstrated exciting potential of harnessing convective flow to direct the assembly, but there are still many phenomena beyond the “coffee-ring” to be investigated such as particle capturing and transport by the interface and the deposition of particles with complex geometry and interactions.

This symposium will bring together experts working on a broad topic of fundamental fluid mechanics and materials processing to discuss current understanding and progress of the field and to offer insights to advance the field by addressing the current scientific and technological challenges.

Topics of particular interest include:

– Flow structure in evaporating liquid laden with particles
– Hydrodynamic interactions between colloids with complex geometry
– Self-assembly with toggled interactions
– Interface-templated assembly
– Advanced techniques for imaging particle dynamics
– Bulking of armored droplets
– Dynamics and assembly of irregular particles
– Marangoni effects in drying droplets of complex fluids

Keywords: material systems, fluid mechanics