Guided Fluidic Assembly of Patterned Ceramic Granules and Films

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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.