Extreme deformation of complex fluid interfaces
Conférence IMFT / Fédération FERMAT
Valeria Garbin - Department of Chemical Engineering Imperial College London
Jeudi 12 novembre à 15 h 00 - Amphithéâtre Nougaro
Abstract :
Self-assembly at fluid interfaces is at the basis of natural and industrial processes : the interfacial assembly of amphiphiles provides the architecture of biomembranes ; and nanoparticles adsorbed at liquid/liquid interfaces are increasingly used in biphasic catalysis. In spite of their relevance for applications, the behavior of these complex interfaces under extreme flow conditions, typical of realistic processing flows, is still poorly understood. In this talk I will present two experimental studies on the dynamics of complex interfaces.
First I will present a study on extreme deformation of particle-stabilized bubbles. We manipulate the bubbles remotely by applying an acoustic field. We discovered that violent interface deformations trigger particle ejection. Non-linear bubble dynamics can also be exploited to design complex particle expulsion scenarios, with relevance to directed particle delivery in microreactors.
The second part of the talk focuses on the large deformation and break-up of biomembranes in a complex shear flow. We demonstrated selective breakup of lipid vesicles based on the difference in membrane elasticity. Our results reveal the influence of membrane mechanical properties and the possibility to quantitatively control the selectivity of the process, with potential applications in biomedical technologies and bioprocessing.
