Drop Dynamics on under-liquid Surfaces: Discovery and Development

在申请人的领导下，阿尔伯塔大学的微米和纳米尺度传输实验室（MNT实验室）的最新创新允许将给定液体的液滴沉积在放置在另一液体内的基底上，从而使基底独立的“液下”液滴沉积可行。这一及时的发现促使申请人冒险进入一个非常新的发现研究和开发领域，该领域可以解释不同的自然润湿现象，包括在不同环境压力下控制海洋生态系统生存的自然润湿现象。研究计划的第一部分将集中在牛顿液滴的行为下降，可以忽略不计的冲击速度在液体表面下。研究的第二部分将集中在牛顿液滴以给定的冲击速度冲击液体下的基底的情况下，并且所产生的动力学将由两种液体（液滴和周围环境）的粘度和冲击速度的相互作用决定。第三部分的研究将解决上述两个现象的情况下，非牛顿或粘弹性滴在类似的液体。研究计划的最后一部分将是开发“水下”超疏油表面。拟议的研究计划将旨在通过实验和先进的理论研究打开一个新的窗口，了解放置在液体内的固体的毛细作用和润湿动力学。周围的粘性介质的存在将改变润湿和毛细作用的经典描述，和拟议的研究将旨在解决相关的基本问题。同样重要的是，拟议的研究对于减轻漏油等灾害对海洋物种的影响等应用是必不可少的（例如，最近的海湾石油泄漏），减少能源勘探对水生物种的影响（例如，该研究计划旨在培养大量的研究生和高年级本科生，目标是在基础科学与工程应用研究无缝集成的基础上，创建一支训练有素的劳动力队伍。研究计划的新成果和成果将通过高质量的出版物传播，并将为研究界提供急需的更好地了解“水下”防油（超疏油）表面。这项拟议的综合研究计划将使阿尔伯塔省和加拿大成为了解石油泄漏、油砂尾矿等对环境影响的领导者之一，并将推动申请人的研究小组成为润湿社区的科学领导者之一。

A latest innovation at the Micro and Nano-scale Transport Laboratory (MNT Lab), University of Alberta, under the leadership of the applicant, which allows depositing drop of a given liquid on a substrate placed inside another liquid, thereby making substrate independent “under-liquid” drop deposition feasible. This timely discovery has propelled the applicant to venture into a very new area of discovery research and development, which can explain different natural wetting phenomena, including those that govern the survival of marine ecosystem under different environmental stresses. The first part of the research program would focus on behavior of Newtonian liquid drops descending with negligible impact speed on the under-liquid surfaces. The second part of the research would focus on the case where the Newtonian drop impacts the under-liquid substrate with a given impact speed and the resulting dynamics will be dictated by the interplay of the viscosities of the two liquids (drop and surrounding), and the impact velocity. The third part of the research would address the above two phenomena for the case of non-Newtonian or viscoelastic drop in a similar liquid. The final component of the research program would be towards the development of “under-water” superoleophobic surfaces. The proposed research program will aim to open a new window of understanding of the capillarity and wetting dynamics on solids placed inside a liquid through both experimental and advanced theoretical studies. Presence of a surrounding viscous medium would alter the classical description of wetting and capillarity, and the proposed research would aim to address the relevant fundamental issues. Equally importantly, the proposed research would be indispensable for applications like mitigation of effects of disasters like oil-spill on marine species (e.g., recent Gulf oil spill), reducing impact on aquatic species from energy exploration (e.g., impact of tailings from oilsands activities on fish), development of efficient under-water or sea-faring vehicles with antifouling properties, etc. The research program aims to train a large number of graduate students and senior undergraduate students with a goal to create a trained workforce based on seamless integration of fundamental science with applied research in engineering. The novel results and outcomes of the research program will be disseminated through high quality publications and will provide the research community with much needed better understanding of “under-water” oil repellent (superoleophobic) surfaces. This proposed comprehensive research program will make the Province of Alberta and Canada one of the leaders in understanding environmental impact of oil spills, oilsands tailings, etc. and will propel the applicant’s research group as one of the scientific leaders in the wetting community.