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无数应用中具有巨大的科学和技术重要性。该研究项目的重点是开发以薄膜和颗粒形式组装陶瓷的新途径。通过利用流体在微尺度上的独特流动行为，陶瓷材料将以前所未有的控制其成分和结构制造。计划开展多种教育和推广活动，包括研究生和本科生指导，开发本科课程新材料，以及网络推广。这个研究项目是探索从胶体、纳米粒子和有机构建块中引导流控装配图案陶瓷膜和颗粒。具体来说，有两种新途径正在研究中：(1)胶体膜的蒸发平版图像化；(2)胶体颗粒的微流控组装，控制其大小、形状和成分。目的是建立一个基于流体的陶瓷结构装配的基本理解，并在多个长度尺度上进行精细的结构和成分控制。

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.