Flow behaviour of dielectric liquids in an electric field

A family of 10 silicone oils with electrical conductivity similar to 10(-13) S m(-1) (a regime hitherto systematically unexplored) and viscosities ranging from 1 to 2000mPas have been Subjected to an electrical field of up to 1.5kV mm(-1) during flow from a needle. The flow behaviour of these liquids is investigated experimentally in the flow rate regime 10(-8)-10(-12) m(3) s(-1) and we analyse the results using the Ohnesorge number. Due to the low electrical conductivity and high electrical relaxation time of the silicone oils, only unsteady transient jets were found. The onset of this type of jetting has been defined using current measurements and, in contrast to conducting liquids, the non-dimensional jet diameter increases with increase in Ohnesorge number. The time elapsed between the start and finish of jetting increases with increasing Ohnesorge number

Controlling size and size distribution of electrohydrodynamically prepared microbubbles

There are several methods for producing commercial quantities of coated microbubbles with diameters <10 μm and a low polydispersivity index for use as ultrasound contrast agents, drug and gene delivery vehicles. Co-axial electrohydrodynamic microbubbling is a recently developed method which can generate microbubbles at a high rate. In this method, two capillary needles are concentrically aligned and subjected to a potential difference applied between the needles and a ground electrode with a stream of gas pushed through the inner needle and a stream of liquid through the outer so that a two-phase jet is formed at the outlet. The jet breaks up into microbubbles which are collected in a suitable liquid. In this work, co-axial electrohydrodynamic microbubbling was used to prepare microbubbles from a phospholipid suspension containing 2 wt-% Tween 80, a surfactant. Microbubbling was carried out under different electrical fields and air/liquid flowrates in order to prepare microbubbles with a low polydispersivity index. At the ambient temperature, the microbubbles collected in distilled water had a mean diameter of ∼5 μm with a polydispersivity index of ∼9% and were stable for >18 h. © 2009 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Nanocomposites: suitable alternatives as antimicrobial agents

The exploration of nanocomposites has gained a strong research following over the last decade. These materials have been heavily exploited in several fields, with applications ranging from biosensors to biomedicine. Among these applications, great advances have been made in the field of microbiology, specifically as antimicrobial agents. This review aims to provide a comprehensive account of various nanocomposites that elucidate promising antimicrobial activity. The composition, physical and chemical properties, as well as antimicrobial performance of these nanocomposites are discussed in detail

Stability of microbubbles prepared by co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomisation.

Previous studies have indicated that microbubbles prepared by co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomisation (CEHDA) are less stable than those prepared by other methods such as sonication and microfluidic techniques. The aim of this investigation was to determine the reasons for this observation and how this might be addressed in future work. Microbubbles were prepared by CEHDA using (i) a glycerol-air system, (ii) a glycerol-Tween 80-air system and (iii) a glycerol-zirconia-air system and also by simple agitation of (i) and (ii), in order to compare the effect upon the dissolution rate of microbubbles of different materials and processing methods. Both theoretical examination and the experimental results indicated that all three quantities were important in controlling the rate of microbubble dissolution, namely: surface tension at the gas/liquid interface, the effective diffusivity of gas through this interface and the initial concentration of gas dissolved in the surrounding liquid. However, it was the difference in gas concentration in the surrounding liquid that was indicated as the primary reason for the differences in stability observed with different processing methods. It was concluded, therefore, that improved stability could be achieved for microbubbles prepared using CEHDA by saturating the collecting fluid with gas and/or maintaining a high concentration of microbubbles during collection

Microbubbling by co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization.

The preparation of microbubble suspensions is an important feature of medical engineering research. Recently, co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization was used in our laboratory for the first time to prepare microbubble suspensions. In this paper, using a model glycerol-air system, we investigate in detail the characteristics of this microbubbling process. Modes of microbubbling are elucidated with respect to applied voltage and liquid and air flow rates. Thus, a parametric plot is constructed to identify a liquid and gas flow rate regime, which allows continuous microbubbling. This map provides a basis for the selection of a suitable combination of liquid and gas flow rates particularly in relation to yield and bubble size. The mechanism of microbubbling in microfluidic systems is compared with that of microbubbling by co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization to identify the advantages and the limiting factors of the latter. Stability of microbubbles prepared by this method in terms of variation of diameter as a function of time is compared with previous literature on the dissolution of microbubbles with an air core and suggests the need for further work to stabilize the bubbles