Numerical simulations of complex fluid-fluid interface dynamics

Interfaces between two fluids are ubiquitous and of special importance for industrial applications, e.g., stabilisation of emulsions. The dynamics of fluid-fluid interfaces is difficult to study because these interfaces are usually deformable and their shapes are not known a priori. Since experiments do not provide access to all observables of interest, computer simulations pose attractive alternatives to gain insight into the physics of interfaces. In the present article, we restrict ourselves to systems with dimensions comparable to the lateral interface extensions. We provide a critical discussion of three numerical schemes coupled to the lattice Boltzmann method as a solver for the hydrodynamics of the problem: (a) the immersed boundary method for the simulation of vesicles and capsules, the Shan-Chen pseudopotential approach for multi-component fluids in combination with (b) an additional advection-diffusion component for surfactant modelling and (c) a molecular dynamics algorithm for the simulation of nanoparticles acting as emulsifiers.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

Nanostructured thin films of organic-organometallic block copolymers: one-step lithography with poly(ferrocenylsilanes) by reactive ion etching

The deposition of thin films of inorganic nanoclusters as a route to one-step lithography has been achieved using block copolymers with inherent inorganic (Fe and Si) components. Nanodomains of the organometallic part are resistant to removal during the subsequent O2 etch, which results in well-ordered and separate domains of iron and silicon oxides, as can be seen in the Figure