Acoustowetting: Microscale and Nanoscale Liquid Manipulation for Microfluidic Applications

控制液体在表面上扩散的能力对于便携式诊断微型设备的设计至关重要。结合先进的流动可视化与分析和数值技术，该项目将阐明最近发现的“声润湿”现象，其中微米厚的液体膜可以使用定位在基板上的声波进行操纵。这种现象是动态丰富和复杂的，表现出的特点，有时类似于其他传播过程，在其他时间相当独特：流动逆转，指状不稳定性和孤立波列。该研究随后将利用这一基本理解来设计一种用于将细胞封装在液滴中以用于药物递送应用的系统。

The ability to control the spreading of liquids on surfaces is crucial to the design of portable diagnostic microdevices. Combining advanced flow visualisation together with analytical and numerical techniques, this project will elucidate a recently discovered ‘acoustowetting’ phenomenon in which micron thick liquid films can be manipulated using sound waves localised on a substrate. The phenomenon is dynamically rich and complex, exhibiting peculiarities that are at times analogous to other spreading processes and at other times quite unique: flow reversal, fingering instabilities and soliton-like wave trains. The research will subsequently utilise this fundamental understanding to design a system for encapsulating cells in droplets for drug delivery applications.