Janus Droplet Formation via Thermally Induced Phase Separation: A Numerical Model with Diffusion and Convection

[Image: see text] Microscale Janus particles have versatile potential applications in many physical and biomedical fields, such as microsensor, micromotor, and drug delivery. Here, we present a phase-field approach of multicomponent and multiphase to investigate the Janus droplet formation via thermally induced phase separation. The crucial kinetics for the formation of Janus droplets consisting of two polymer species and a solvent component via an interplay of both diffusion and convection is considered in the Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes equation. The simulation results of the phase-field model show that unequal interfacial tensions between the two polymer species and the solvent result in asymmetric phase separation in the formation process of Janus droplets. This asymmetric phase separation plays a vital role in the establishment of the so-called core–shell structure that has been observed in previous experiments. By varying the droplet size, the surface tension, and the molecular interaction between the polymer species, several novel droplet morphologies are predicted in the development process of Janus droplets. Moreover, we stress that the hydrodynamics should be reckoned as a non-negligible mechanism that not only accelerates the Janus droplet evolution but also has great impacts on the coarsening and coalescence of the Janus droplets

DESIGNING OPTIMAL MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES FOR A NEW CONSUMER DURABLE AND PAY-PER-CLICK MARKETING

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Brownian motion of droplets induced by thermal noise

Brownian motion (BM) is pivotal in natural science for the stochastic motion of microscopic droplets. In this study, we investigate BM driven by thermal composition noise at sub-micro scales, where inter-molecular diffusion and surface tension both are significant. To address BM of microscopic droplets, we develop two stochastic multi-phase-field models coupled with the full Navier-Stokes equation, namely Allen-Cahn-Navier-Stokes (ACNS) and Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes (CHNS). Both models are validated against capillary wave theory; the Einstein's relation for the Brownian coefficient at thermodynamic equilibrium is recovered. Moreover, by adjusting the co-action of the diffusion, Marangoni effect, and viscous friction, two non-equilibrium phenomena are observed. (I) The droplet motion transits from the Brownian to Ballistic with increasing Marangoni effect which is emanated from the energy dissipation mechanism distinct from the conventional fluctuation-dissipation theorem. (II) The deterministic droplet motion is triggered by the noise induced non-uniform velocity field which leads to a novel droplet coalescence mechanism associated with the thermal noise

A thermodynamically consistent diffuse interface model for the wetting phenomenon of miscible and immiscible ternary fluids

The wetting effect has attracted great scientific interest because of its natural significance as well as technical applications. Previous models mostly focus on one-component fluids or binary immiscible liquid mixtures. Modelling of the wetting phenomenon for multicomponent and multiphase fluids is a knotty issue. In this work, we present a thermodynamically consistent diffuse interface model to describe the wetting effect for ternary fluids, as an extension of Cahn\u27s theory for binary fluids. In particular, we consider both immiscible and miscible ternary fluids. For miscible fluids, we validate the equilibrium contact angle and the thermodynamic pressure with Young\u27s law and the Young–Laplace equation, respectively. Distinct flow patterns for dynamic wetting are presented when the surface tension and the viscous force dominate the wetting effect. For immiscible ternary fluids, we manipulate the wettability of two contact droplets deposited on a solid substrate according to three scenarios: (I) both droplets are hydrophilic; (II) a hydrophilic droplet in contact with a hydrophobic one; (III) both droplets are hydrophobic. The contact angles at each triple junction from the simulations are compared with Young\u27s contact angle and Neumann\u27s triangle rule. Simulations for the validation of our work are performed in two and three dimensions. In addition, we model the evaporation process of a ternary droplet and obtain the same power law as that of previous experiments. Our model allows one to relate the interfacial energies with surface composition, enabling the modelling of the coffee-ring phenomenon in further perspective

Research progress on the reduced neural repair ability of aging Schwann cells

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is associated with delayed repair of the injured nerves in elderly patients, resulting in loss of nerve function, chronic pain, muscle atrophy, and permanent disability. Therefore, the mechanism underlying the delayed repair of peripheral nerves in aging patients should be investigated. Schwann cells (SCs) play a crucial role in repairing PNI and regulating various nerve-repair genes after injury. SCs also promote peripheral nerve repair through various modalities, including mediating nerve demyelination, secreting neurotrophic factors, establishing Büngner bands, clearing axon and myelin debris, and promoting axon remyelination. However, aged SCs undergo structural and functional changes, leading to demyelination and dedifferentiation disorders, decreased secretion of neurotrophic factors, impaired clearance of axonal and myelin debris, and reduced capacity for axon remyelination. As a result, aged SCs may result in delayed repair of nerves after injury. This review article aimed to examine the mechanism underlying the diminished neural repair ability of aging SCs

Phase-field simulation for the formation of porous microstructures due to phase separation in polymer solutions on substrates with different wettabilities

The porous microstructure has been widely observed in a variety of polymer solutions that have been broadly applied in many industry fields. Phase separation is one of the common mechanisms for the formation of the porous microstructure in binary polymeric mixtures. Previous studies for the formation of porous microstructures mostly focus on the separation of the bulk phase. However, there is a paucity of investigation for the phase separation of polymer mixtures contacting the solid substrate. When the polymeric liquid mixtures interact with the solid substrate, the wetting boundary condition has to be taken into account. In this work, we present a phase-field model which is coupled with the wetting boundary condition to study the phase separation in binary polymer solutions. Our consideration is based on the polymerization-induced phase separation, and thermally induced phase separation by using the Flory-Huggins model. By taking the wetting effect into account, we find that polymer droplets spontaneously occur in the microstructure, even though the bulk composition is outside the spinodal region. This phenomenon is caused by the surface composition resulting from the wetting effect that was often overlooked in literature. For the phase separation in the binary polymer mixture, we also study the impact of the temperature gradient on the microstructural evolution. The porosity, the number of droplets, and the mean radius of the droplets are rationalized with the temperature gradient

Indocyanine Green-Loaded Polydopamine-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites with Amplifying Photoacoustic and Photothermal Effects for Cancer Theranostics

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) as light-induced theranostic platforms have been attracted much attention in recent years. However, the development of highly efficient and integrated phototheranostic nanoagents for amplifying PA imaging and PTT treatments poses great challenges. Here, we report a novel phototheranostic nanoagent using indocyanine green-loaded polydopamine-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (ICG-PDA-rGO) with amplifying PA and PTT effects for cancer theranostics. The results demonstrate that the PDA layer coating on the surface of rGO could effectively absorb a large number of ICG molecules, quench ICG's fluorescence, and enhance the PDA-rGO's optical absorption at 780 nm. The obtained ICG-PDA-rGO exhibits stronger PTT effect and higher PA contrast than that of pure GO and PDA-rGO. After PA imaging-guided PTT treatments, the tumors in 4T1 breast subcutaneous and orthotopic mice models are suppressed completely and no treatment-induced toxicity being observed. It illustrates that the ICG-PDA-rGO nanocomposites constitute a new class of theranostic nanomedicine for amplifying PA imaging and PTT treatments