Generation of interfacial instabilities in charged electrified viscous liquid films

This study is concerned with the stability of a two-dimensional incompressible conducting liquid film surrounded by a passive conducting medium, when an electric field is applied in a direction parallel to the initially flat bounding fluid interfaces. Currents generate charges at the bounding interfaces which in turn affect the stress balances there. In the absence of an electric field, the viscous liquid film is stable (instability can be induced by the inclusion of van der Waals forces for ultra thin films). A complete model is presented, at arbitrary Reynolds number, which accounts for conductivity and permittivity contrasts between the fluid and surrounding medium, as well as surface tension. The linear stability of the system is considered for arbitrary Reynolds numbers and it is shown that the stable film can become unstable if, (i) σ _R ɛ _p >1, or (ii) σ _R ɛ _p <1 and (σ _R −1)(1−ɛ _p )<0, where σ _R is the ratio of outer to inner conductivity and ε _p is the ratio of inner to outer permittivity. Instability is possible only if the electric field is non-zero and the scalings near bifurcation points that can be used to construct nonlinear theories are calculated. Several asymptotic limits are also considered including zero Reynolds numbers and short or long waves. The instability criteria given above are constructed explicitly in the case of Stokes flow.     

Amplification‐Free Multi‐RNA‐Type Profiling for Cancer Risk Stratification via Alternating Current Electrohydrodynamic Nanomixing

Simultaneous analysis of messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)—multi‐RNA‐type profiling—is increasingly crucial in cancer diagnostics. Yet, rapid multi‐RNA‐type profiling is challenging due to enzymatic amplification reliance and RNA‐type‐dependent characteristics. Here, a nanodevice is reported to uniquely use alterable alternating current electrohydrodynamic (ac‐EHD) forces to enhance probe–target hybridization prior to direct native RNA target detection, without target amplification or surface functionalization. To exemplify clinical applicability, noninvasive screening of next‐generation prostate cancer (PCa) RNA biomarkers (of different types) in patient urine samples is performed. A strong correlation between multi‐RNA‐type expression and aggressive PCa is found, and the nanodevice performance is statistically evaluated. It is believed that this miniaturized system exhibits great potential for cancer risk stratification via multi‐RNA‐type profiling.     

EHD气液混合两相体电晕特性的研究

试验研究了氮气和氧气分别与水组成的气液混合两相体在EHD放电中的电晕特性,研究了气体、液体流量对放电电流、发射光谱及电晕形状的影响。由于氮气参与的放电能够产生更多的紫外线和自由基,氧气参与的放电可以产生臭氧,因而氮气和氧气混合气体参与的放电可能比单纯含氧更有利于处理有机废水。     

Flexible electronic skin with high performance pressure sensing based on PVDF/rGO/BaTiO3 composite thin film

The wearable intelligent electronic product similar to electronic skin has a great application prospect. However, flexible electronic with high performance pressure sensing functions are still facing great challenges. In this paper, the highly sensitive flexible electronic skin (FES) based on the PVDF/rGO/BaTiO₃ composite thin film was fabricated using the near-field electrohydrodynamic direct-writing (NFEDW) method. The PVDF/rGO/BaTiO₃ composite solution was directly written on flexible substrate by the NFEDW method to fabricate FES with micro/nano fiber structure, which has the function of sensing pressure with high sensitivity and fast response. The surface morphology and microstructure were characterized by SEM, AFM, and optical microscope in detail. The fabricated FES has high sensitivity (59 kPa⁻¹) and faster response time (130 ms). FES has been successfully applied to the detection of human motion and subtle physiological signals. The experimental results show that FES has good stability and reliability. FES can recognize human motion, and it has a broad application prospect in the field of wearable devices.     

高电压技术在制冷设备除霜中的应用

为解决制冷系统除霜技术存在的问题,介绍了利用高压静电场技术及扫频高压交流电场技术在制冷系统中除霜的机理及研究进展,基于电流体动力学理论分析了霜晶分别在自然生长以及受高压静电场影响两种情况下不同的生长特性、机理和高压静电场中影响霜沉积量的主要电场参数,以及影响扫频高压交流电场技术除霜效率和能耗的主要参数。研究表明:电压及电场极性对高压静电场除霜的效率影响显著,频宽及交流电场持续施加的时间则是影响扫频高压交流电场除霜效率及能耗的主要电场参数;扫频高压交流电场除霜技术相比于静电场除霜技术,在除霜效率上更高,但能耗上处于劣势。最后,从除霜效率及能耗角度出发,提出了进一步深入研究的方向。     

Directed Molecular Collection by E‐Jet Printed Microscale Chemical Potential Wells in Hydrogel Films

A facile approach to locally concentrate analytes of interest will significantly enhance miniaturized, integrated chemical‐analysis systems. Here, the directed analyte transport and concentration using ≈200 µm‐diameter E‐jet printed chemical potential wells in a polyacrylamide hydrogel is demonstrated. Using a cationic well as the model system, anionic analytes are accumulated into a microscale area with a local concentration enhancement of >50‐fold relative to the surrounding area. By downscaling the diameter of the chemical potential well from a few millimeters to 100s of micrometers, it is found, using both fluorescence and Raman microscopy, that the molecular collection capacity of the well is greatly improved. Additionally, it is shown that molecules can be simultaneously transported and concentrated to arrays of microscale regions using an array of microscale chemical potential wells. This approach enhances many‐fold the limit of detection, enables the formation of microscale potential well arrays with a variety of chemical properties, and provides a novel microscale molecular manipulation technique as an alternative to traditional microfluidic‐based systems.     

Electrooptical and Photooptical Properties of Polymer Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Effects of electric fields on monomer liquid crystals (MLCs) and polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) are analyzed, dealing separately with nematic and cholesteric PLCs. Electro-hydrodynamic instabilities affect the behavior of these systems. Thermooptical recording depends on the magnitude of the thermooptical effects. Information recording can be alternatively performed on the basis of photoorientation and the photoinduced birefringence. Capabilities and limitations of these techniques are pointed out.     

电流体力学强化水平管内凝结传热试验研究

在电流体力学(EHD)强化传热试验台上进行了水平管内凝结传热的强化试验研究，结果表明，EHD技术对水平管内的凝结传热有明显的强化效果；低热流密度时，强化效果较好，增大热流密度时，强化效果减弱；热流密度维持不变时，强化系数随强化电压的升高而增大；在本试验条件下，对凝结传热的最大强化系数为156％。     

Fiber Bridging during Melt Electrowriting of Poly(ε-Caprolactone) and the Influence of Fiber Diameter and Wall Height

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a direct-writing technology for small diameter fibers; however, due to electrostatic attraction, the technique is restricted in how close these microfibers can be positioned on the collector. Here, the minimum interfiber distance between parallel poly(ε-caprolactone) MEW microfibers is determined for different fiber diameters and number of layers on noncoated and star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide-stat-propylene oxide) (sP(EO-stat-PO))-coated glass coverslips. The effect of the fiber diameter, the number of fiber layers, and shape of turning loops affect precision and the minimum interfiber distance. Single fibers with diameter of 5, 10, and 15 µm have a minimum interfiber distance without fiber bridging of 33 ± 2.7, 54 ± 2.2, and 62 ± 2.7 µm, respectively. Increasing the number of layers to ten increases this minimum interfiber distance approximately twofold to 60 ± 3.5, 97 ± 4.5, and 102 ± 2.7 µm for the increasing fiber diameters. The sP(EO-stat-PO) slightly increases the minimum interfiber distance for the 15 µm diameter group only, with spacing for the 5 and 10 µm fibers unaffected by the coating. Identifying and determining the fabrication limits for MEW is highly instructional for users working and designing scaffolds with this technology.