Electrokinetics in Liquid Crystals

液晶动电学

• 批准号: 1507637
• 负责人: Oleg Lavrentovich
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Kent State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2018-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1507637&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Electrokinetics; Liquid; Crystals

Non Technical Abstract Liquid crystals (LCs) represent a peculiar state of matter combining properties of solid crystals and isotropic fluids. The subtle combination of orientational order, fluidity, and eager responsiveness to the electric field featured by the LCs brought a revolution in the way we present information nowadays, enabling an entire industry of portable LC displays. The project focuses on LCs as a functional medium that enables new forms of electrokinetics, i.e., motion of particles and fluids under an externally applied electric field. As compared to standard isotropic fluids such as water, the LCs offer new mechanisms of electrokinetics, rooted in orientational order of molecules. The project explores a new approach to induce and control the electrokinetic flows through surface-imprinted molecular orientation of the LC. The objective is to establish a fundamental understanding of electrokinetics in LCs, determine which new technologies and applications might emerge from the study, and to train the new generation of researcher (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) in this cutting edge research of technological significance.Technical Abstract Electrokinetics represents a broad spectrum of phenomena associated with a relative motion at fluid/solid interfaces caused by external electric fields that act on suitably separated space charges, such as electric double layers or induced charges. The project goals are to explore a new mechanism of electrokinetics, in which the spatial charges are generated through the coupling of anisotropic electric conductivity to the liquid crystal (LC) director gradients and also to develop a new method to trigger the electrokinetic flows, through the imprinted surface patterns of director gradients. The control of surface alignment is performed locally in each point of the substrate by photo-irradiation. The project advances knowledge of electrohydrodynamics of isotropic fluids and electrohydrodynamics of LCs, two extremely rich scientific branches usually considered separately. It brings a new perspective in a general area of charge transport in organic matter which embraces photosynthesis, transport within proteins and across biomembranes. The project uses well-tested experimental methods such as three-dimensional optical microscopy, microparticle velocimetry, photoalignment and electro-optics, thus ensuring that the new knowledge is based on a solid experimental background. The research advances discovery and understanding of electrokinetics and LCs as materials for applications other than LC displays. The study offers new perspectives for practical applications where highly flexible, precise and simple control of fluid or cargo placement, delivery, mixing or sorting is needed. The research will be conducted at the Liquid Crystal Institute, which will immediately make the results and techniques available to numerous partners already linked together by the Institute's Industrial Partnership Program. The project helps to achieve the educational goals of the 5-Year Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Strategic Plan and the Materials Genome Initiative, by preparing the next generation of highly trained science professionals.

非技术抽象液体晶体（LCS）代表了固体晶体和各向同性流体的特性的特性状态。 LCS对电场的定向顺序，流动性和渴望响应能力的微妙组合带来了我们如今提供信息的革命，从而使整个便携式LC显示器都能展示。 该项目将LCS作为一种功能培养基，可实现新形式的电动物质，即，在外部施加的电场下颗粒和流体的运动。 与标准的各向同性流体（如水）相比，LCS提供了基于分子定向顺序的电动物质的新机制。 该项目探讨了一种新的方法，可以通过LC的表面刻板分子取向诱导和控制电动流动。 目的是建立对LCS中电动物质的基本了解，确定哪些新技术和应用可能与研究出现，并在这种技术意义的尖端研究中培训新一代研究人员（研究生和博士后研究员）。技术抽象的电动动力学与相对势化的相对/相对的杂种型，该领域与相对的杂种相关/相关，该领域的作用是相对/相对的。太空费用，例如电动双层或感应电荷。 项目目标是探索一种新的电解学机制，其中通过各向异性电导率耦合到液晶（LC）主管梯度，从而产生空间电荷，并通过导演梯度的梯度梯度模式来触发电动流动的新方法来触发电动流动流。表面对齐的控制是通过光辐射在基材的每个点局部进行的。该项目促进了对液晶的各向同性液和电水动力学的电水动力学知识，这是两个非常丰富的科学分支，通常是分别考虑的。 它为有机物的一般电荷运输领域带来了新的视角，该领域包含光合作用，蛋白质内和跨生物膜内的传输。 该项目使用经过经过测试的实验方法，例如三维光学显微镜，微颗粒速度计，光关注和电镜，从而确保新知识基于坚实的实验背景。该研究将发现和理解电动和LC作为LC显示器以外的应用材料。 该研究为实用应用提供了新的观点，在这些应用中，需要对流体或货物放置，交付，混合或排序的高度灵活，精确和简单控制。该研究将在液晶研究所进行，该研究所将立即为该研究所的工业合作伙伴计划与已经将其联系在一起的众多合作伙伴提供结果和技术。 该项目通过准备下一代训练有素的科学专业人士，有助于实现5年联邦科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教育战略计划和材料基因组计划的教育目标。