Mission

Our group are interested in pursuing fundamental issues in interfacial transport phenomena involving multiphases (liquid-vapor and liquid-solid) in a fluid medium with multiphysical and multiscale effects.  The driving forces may be due to mechanical, thermal and/or electrokinetic means.  The length scales may vary from macro-, meso-, micro- to nanoscale.  The engineering applications span a wide spectrum, including thermal management in electronics and energy systems, key processes in conversion, storage and regeneration of natural sources, microfluidic biological/biomedical/biochemical devices and parallel production of directed self-assembly of nanoelectronic devices.

• Coupled electro-mechanical effects on microscale transport – The coupling of electric fields with flow fields gives rise to distinctive transport phenomena in applications such as electrohydrodynamics (EHD), dielectrophoresis (DEP), electrorotation (ROT) and electroosmotic flow (EOF).  These effects are highly efficient at manipulating particles of micron/submicron sizes and controlling microscale flows.  We will study the fundamentals of the electromechanics of micro/nanoparticles under DEP and their interaction with flow fields, with and without considering EHD effects, and explore new engineering methods to effectively control microscale flow fields, enhance transport processes and maneuver micro/nanoparticles and particle assemblies.

• Multiphase transport in complex microfluidic systems – Thermal management of next-generation microelectronics and miniaturization of biochemical reaction/analysis systems, e.g., lab-on-a-chip, often involve multiphase transport in complex microfluidic devices.  We will investigate multiphase heat and mass transfer, with and without chemical reactions, in microchannel flow networks, and develop integrated microscale cooling systems and microreactors for relevant engineering applications.

• Experimental and diagnostic techniques suitable at the microscale – Direct flow visualization is of key importance to analyzing microscale flows and providing benchmark data for theoretical and computational investigations.  We will adapt and further develop novel diagnostic techniques with high spatial and temporal resolutions, including particle and scalar-based velocimetry and ultra high speed photography, and explore non-optical-based techniques to resolve nanoscale flows.