Reactive Surface Nanodroplets

极小的液滴是许多工业和技术过程中的关键，因为它们的非凡特性源于它们的微观尺寸。这些液滴为化学反应和生物反应提供了分隔的环境，并显示出大的表面积与体积比，以增强不相容液体之间的热量和质量传递。它们在液-液萃取分离或回收有害或有价值的化合物、设计新的化学反应和催化反应系统、制造食品和香水、优化医药产品、高通量分析和生物医学诊断等方面发挥着至关重要的作用。尽管这对广泛的应用具有重要意义，但在不断变化的环境中预测和控制液滴的行为仍然具有挑战性。我们目前对液滴及其复杂的动力学缺乏了解，这意味着我们的知识存在重大差距。因此，目前在许多过程中找到最佳操作窗口以获得液滴系统所需的特性仍然依赖于反复试验。该计划的成果将填补这一知识空白，并阐明浸没(多组分)纳米液滴在各种物理和化学条件下的基本性质。该计划的长期目标是为复杂液滴系统的预测、设计和控制奠定基础，并促进一系列液滴技术的创新。该计划的短期目标是定量了解多组分纳米液滴的形成、周围相转移过程中纳米液滴的动力学以及与外部流动中的组分的反应，并探索液滴使能的纳米萃取作为先进分析技术中的一种新过程的潜力。从该项目中获得的基本认识不仅是现代液-液萃取过程用于时效性微量分析或隔间材料合成的必要和迫切需要，而且也是在更大范围内用于废水处理和生物燃料升级和光收集中的界面催化转化所必需和迫切需要的。利用胶体和界面科学、化学工程、分析化学和纳米材料的跨学科专业知识，该项目将为加拿大研究人员提供领导这一非常新颖和重要的研究领域的机会，并加强加拿大尖端研究在其他相关邻近领域的影响。HQP的培训是该计划的一个关键目标。该项目将培养2名博士、4名硕士和10名学士学生。拟议的研究计划的多学科性质提供了独特的教育机会。除了在核心学科领域获得卓越的熟练程度外，学生还将获得许多其他抢手的技能。

Extremely small droplets are key in many industrial and technological processes, because of their remarkable properties originating from their microscopic dimensions. These droplets provide compartmentalized environments for chemical and biological reactions and exhibit large surface-to-volume ratio for enhanced heat and mass transfer between immiscible liquids. They play a crucial role in liquid-liquid extraction for separating or recycling harmful or valuable compounds, design of novel systems for chemical and catalytic reactions, formulating food and perfumes, optimizing pharmaceutical products, high throughput analysis and biomedical diagnosis, just to name a few. Despite the significance to a broad range of applications, it remains challenging to predict and control the behavior of droplets within changing environments. Our present lack of understanding of droplets and their complex dynamics means a major gap in our knowledge. As such, finding an optimal operating window to obtain desired properties of droplet systems in many processes presently still relies on trial and error. The outcome from this program will fill the knowledge gap and illuminate the fundamental properties of immersed (multicomponent) nanodroplets under various physical and chemical conditions. The long-term objective of the program is to lay the foundation for predication, design and control of complex droplet systems and to facilitate innovation in a broad range of droplet-enabled technologies. The short-term objectives of this program are to quantitatively understand the formation of multicomponent nanodroplets, dynamics of nanodroplets during surrounding phase transfer and in reaction with components in an external flow, and to explore the potential of droplet-enabled nanoextraction as a novel process in advanced analytic technology. The fundamental understanding gained from this project is essential and urgently needed not only for modern liquid-liquid extraction processes for time efficient microanalysis, or for compartmentalized material synthesis, but also on larger scales for wastewater treatment and interfacial catalytic conversion in biofuel upgrading and light harvesting. Drawing on interdisciplinary expertise from colloid and interface science, chemical engineering, analytic chemistry and nanomaterials, this program will provide Canadian researchers with the opportunity to lead this highly novel and important research area, and enhance the impact of Canadian cutting edge research in other relevant neighboring areas. Training of HQP is a key objective of the program. The program will train 2 PhD, 4 Master's and 10 Bachelor's students. The multidisciplinary nature of the proposed research program affords unique educational opportunities. Beyond gaining superior proficiency in core subject areas, the students will also gain many other sought-after skills.