Fundamental Studies of Electrowetting on Tailored Surfaces with Application to High Performance Capillary Force Actuators

本计画之研究目的为探讨液态电解质与介电质表面在电润湿过程中之相互作用。这些相互作用导致随着电压增加而停止扩展，并最终导致介电层的绝缘性能的不可逆失效。电润湿是一种现象，其中电势的施加导致导电液体在绝缘电极上扩散。这一努力旨在发展一个基本的理解限制现象的电润湿和它的依赖性的离子，溶剂和介电层的属性。 此外，协议将开发用于制造氧化物涂层和自组装单层面漆，以实现显着的，可逆的，可靠的电润湿行为。研究工作的动机是应用毛细管力致动器。这些用于微机电系统的致动器可以提供比类似尺寸的静电致动器大100倍的力。特别感兴趣的是优化的表面/液体系统，以提高这些微致动器的性能。了解电润湿中的限制现象将导致在各种应用中改进电润湿性能，包括微器件致动、手持式医疗测试设备、电子纸和显示器以及用于相机的可聚焦液体透镜。此外，这一努力将为本科生和研究生提供一个高度跨学科的研究机会。 由于来自代表性不足群体的本科生将成为研究团队的一部分，这一努力将直接影响多元化工程劳动力的培训和代表性不足学生的研究生学习准备。

The research objective of this project is to investigate the interactions during electrowetting between liquid electrolytes and dielectric surfaces. These interactions result in a cessation of spreading with increasing voltage and ultimately irreversible failure of the insulating properties of the dielectric layer. Electrowetting is a phenomenon where the application of an electric potential causes a conducting liquid to spread upon an insulated electrode. This effort seeks to develop a fundamental understanding of limiting phenomena in electrowetting and its dependence on the properties of the ions, solvent, and dielectric layer. Furthermore, protocols will be developed for the fabrication of oxide dielectrics and self-assembled monolayer topcoats so as to achieve significant, reversible, and reliable electrowetting behavior. The research effort is motivated by the application of capillary force actuators. These actuators for microelectromechanical systems can deliver forces up to 100 times greater than similarly sized electrostatic actuators. Of particular interest is the optimization of the surface/liquid system so as to enhance the performance of these microactuators. Understanding limiting phenomena in electrowetting will lead to improved electrowetting performance in a variety of applications including microdevice actuation, hand-held medical testing equipment, electronic paper and displays, and focusable liquid lenses for cameras. Moreover, this effort will provide both undergraduate and graduate students a highly interdisciplinary research opportunity. As undergraduates from underrepresented groups will be part of the research team, this effort will directly impact the training of a diverse engineering workforce and the preparation of underrepresented students for graduate study.