Guided Fluidic Assembly of Patterned Ceramic Granules and Films

陶瓷材料在包括电子、电池和磁性设备在内的各种应用中具有巨大的科学和技术重要性。该研究项目致力于开发组装薄膜和颗粒状陶瓷的新途径。利用流体在微尺度上的独特流动行为，陶瓷材料的成分和结构将得到前所未有的控制。计划开展多项教育和推广活动，包括研究生和本科生辅导，为本科课程开发新材料，以及基于网络的外展。该研究项目探索从胶体、纳米颗粒和有机积木中引导流控组装图案化陶瓷薄膜和颗粒。具体地说，正在研究两条新的路线：(1)胶体膜的蒸发光刻图案化和(2)尺寸、形状和组成可控的胶体颗粒的微流控组装。其目的是建立对基于流体的陶瓷结构组装的基本理解，并在多个长度尺度上精确地控制结构和成分。

Ceramic materials are of vast scientific and technological importance for a myriad of applications, including electronic, battery, and magnetic devices. This research project focuses on developing new pathways for assembling ceramics in both film and granular forms. By harnessing the unique flow behavior of fluids at the microscale, ceramic materials will be fabricated with unprecedented control over their composition and structure. Multiple education and outreach activities are planned, including graduate and undergraduate student mentoring, development of new material for undergraduate courses, and web-based outreach.This research project is exploring the guided fluidic assembly of patterned ceramic films and granules from colloidal, nanoparticle, and organic building blocks. Specifically, two novel routes are under investigation: (1) evaporative lithographic patterning of colloidal films and (2) microfluidic assembly of colloidal granules with controlled size, shape, and composition. The aim is to establish a fundamental understanding of fluidic-based assembly of ceramic structures with exquisite structural and compositional control on multiple length scales.