限位液滴瞬时失重自激振荡

为探索重力瞬变引起的约束液滴自激振荡机理, 本文利用落塔装置模拟短时微重力环境并借助高速CCD记录圆形限位基片上液滴整个过程的运动情况. 自激振荡是微重力下液滴形态的重整恢复过程, 边界的限位作用使得液滴在整个运动过程接触线钉扎不变, 具体可分为两个阶段: 首先是振荡的高低点位置高度渐进上升的液滴形态变化阶段, 与重力环境渐进变化有关; 而后是平衡位置附近的阻尼衰减振荡阶段, 此时振荡的频率恒定, 振幅衰减类似孤立黏性液滴的指数衰减过程. 对于第二阶段, 在高低点等位置处存在高度不变过程, 高度起伏变化时液滴振荡模式类似自由液滴二阶振荡, 高度不变时振荡模式类似自由液滴三阶振荡. 此外, 对于本实验体系的恒定接触面积的钉扎约束, 液滴的体积量不同时, 内驱振荡的阶段和模式不变, 但具体的振荡过程有所不同. 对于大体积液滴, 会在初始振荡的中间位置出现高度不变现象, 并且随振荡逐渐消失; 而小液滴中间位置则不存在此现象, 波形较一致; 第二阶段小体积液滴振幅衰减的阻尼率更大, 无量纲频率也更高.     

新冠肺炎病人吸入药物肺内定向投递的数值模拟研究

新冠肺炎病毒席卷全球,世界范围内患病人数仍在迅速增加,新冠肺炎病人的治疗引起研究者的关注,我国新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎诊疗方案指出可采用雾化吸入α-干扰素进行抗病毒治疗。为探索提高雾化吸入治疗效果的方法,本文针对一中症新冠肺炎病例进行了计算流体力学数值模拟分析,分区域重建了病患肺部呼吸道几何结构,在低吸气流量条件下(15 L/min)开展了不同直径药物液滴的肺内投递数值模拟,统计了呼吸道内液滴沉积的数量和位置以及能够投递入肺段深处的液滴数量。揭示了肺段投递效率随Stokes数增大而降低,获得了液滴入口位置与去向间的关系,发现从主气管入口截面上两个圆形区域内释放药物液滴能够高效投递入严重病变肺段,证明了吸入药物定向投递的可能性。     

Effects of gravity on the shape of liquid droplets

We report the gravity effects on the shape and focal length changes of liquid droplets. As the droplet size decreases, the gravity effect is gradually weakened. Moreover, if the outside space of the droplet is filled with another immiscible liquid rather than air, the filled liquid helps to offset the gravity effect even though their densities do not match well. Good agreement between experiment and simulation is obtained. The negligible gravity effect enables us to improve the optical performances of the liquid lens by choosing suitable liquids without worrying their density mismatch.     

Redox-photosensitized reaction of indene using photosensitive surfactant in emulsion: dependence on oil droplet size and surfactant charge

A redox-photosensitized reaction of indene 2 using a photosensitive surfactant 1a in an oil-in-water emulsion proceeded efficiently to give alcohol 3 as a major product and is strongly influenced by the oil droplet size and surfactant charge.     

Fundamental aspects of electrospray droplet impact/SIMS

A new ionization method, electrospray droplet impact ionization (EDI), has been developed for matrix-free secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The charged droplets formed by electrospraying 1 M acetic acid aqueous solution are sampled through an orifice with a diameter of 400 microm into the first vacuum chamber, transported into a quadrupole ion guide, and accelerated by 10 kV after exiting the ion guide. The droplets impact on a dry solid sample (no matrix used) deposited on a stainless steel substrate. The secondary ions formed by the impact are transported to a second quadrupole ion guide and mass-analyzed by an orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). Ten pmol of gramicidin S could be detected with the presence of as much as 10 nmol of NaCl. The ion signal for arginine disappeared with decrease in the substrate temperature below 150 K owing to the formation of ice film over the sample surface. While 10 fmol of gramicidin S could be detected for 30 min, the ionization/desorption efficiency for EDI becomes smaller with an increase in the molecular weight (MW) of a biological sample. The largest protein samples detected to date are cytochrome c and lysozyme. The high sensitivity for EDI is due to the fact that samples only a few monolayers thick are subject to desorption/ionization by EDI, with little fragmentation. A coherent phonon excitation may be the main mechanism for the desorption/ionization of the solid sample.     

Dynamics of water droplets detached from porous surfaces of relevance to PEM fuel cells

The detachment of liquid droplets from porous material surfaces used with proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells under the influence of a cross-flowing air is investigated computationally and experimentally. CCD images taken on a purpose-built transparent fuel cell have revealed that the water produced within the PEM is forming droplets on the surface of the gas-diffusion layer. These droplets are swept away if the velocity of the flowing air is above a critical value for a given droplet size. Static and dynamic contact angle measurements for three different carbon gas-diffusion layer materials obtained inside a transparent air-channel test model have been used as input to the numerical model; the latter is based on a Navier–Stokes equations flow solver incorporating the volume of fluid (VOF) two-phase flow methodology. Variable contact angle values around the gas–liquid–solid contact-line as well as their dynamic change during the droplet shape deformation process, have allowed estimation of the adhesion force between the liquid droplet and the solid surface and successful prediction of the separation line at which droplets loose their contact from the solid surface under the influence of the air stream flowing around them. Parametric studies highlight the relevant importance of various factors affecting the detachment of the liquid droplets from the solid surface.     

Synthesis of Polyacrylic/Silica Nanocomposite Latexes using Static Mixer

Summary: Static mixers (Sulzer Chemtech; SMX) were used to prepare silica/ MMA-co-BA miniemulsions that were polymerized to produce nanocomposite latexes. Acceptable conditions for the formulation of polymerizable nanodroplets were found and subsequently used to produce silica/poly(MMA-co-BA) nanocomposites. The droplet size distribution of the resulting miniemulsions was narrow enough that it could be successfully polymerized. It was found that the droplet size depends on the silica content and increases with increasing the silica concentration. It was also shown that there is a relationship between the droplet size and the viscosity of the dispersed phase. The majority of droplets were nucleated upon polymerization when less than 15% silica was used. However, when the silica content exceeded 15%, the ratio of the number of particles in the final latex to the number of droplets (Np/Nd) increased to value much higher than 1 indicating the occurrence of homogeneous nucleation.     

Suspended,one-side anchored,or double-side anchored nematic droplets in an isotropic medium

Nematic droplets in an isotropic liquid crystal provide an interesting geometrical environment for director alignment, depending on the type of surface used. We prepared three types of substrates with nematic-philic, nematic-phobic, and neutral surfaces. By choosing the proper surface type, we were able to selectively produce three types of droplets (suspended, one-side anchored, and double-side anchored) near the phase transition temperature. These droplets exhibited single-polar or bipolar defects depending on the anchoring status. The one-side anchored and the suspended droplets underwent anchoring transitions in one-step and in two-steps processes on cooling, respectively. A hybrid cell with two types of substrates exhibited a truncated cone-shaped droplet, and two nearby cone-shaped droplets produced a stable doule-curved surface geometry with a saddle point of – 1 defect between isotropic-nematic boundaries. The mergence of these droplets was also investigated.     

Fluid boundary layer effects in atmospheric-pressure plasma diamond film deposition

Diamond films were deposited in an atmospheric-pressure radio frequency plasma reactor. Hydrogen and methane were injected coaxially into the plasma as a high-velocity jet which impinged on the molybdenum substrate. In some cases argon was added to the reactant jet to increase its momentum, thereby reducing the boundary layer thickness. In most cases argon addition substantially, improved diamond growth. A numerical model was developed, which calculated two-dimensional reactor temperature and velocity, distributions, and the chemical kinetics in the boundary layer. The calculations indicate that under the experimental conditions argon addition reduced the thickness of the hydrogen nonequilibrium boundary layer from 3.5 to 1.0 mm. In addition, the calculations suggest that monatomic carbon may be a key diamond growth species under thermal plasma conditions.