Making Sense of Small Matter Flow
How does a droplet dry on a surface? How is ink deposited onto paper? That’s what Dr. Boris Stoeber, Canada Research Chair in Microfluidics and Sensing Technology, aims to discover.
Stoeber is applying new experimental methods to explore the processes that are involved in the drying of thin films or small droplets of fluids. Materials such as polymer molecules and particles that are in these fluids are deposited during the drying process. To improve understanding of the physics involved, Stoeber is developing new techniques to visualize the motion of fluids and transported materials.
Better understanding of these mechanisms, or flow phenomena, will allow for the eventual design of microstructures for biomedical applications and for nanostructured materials for sensing devices.
Stoeber’s research will improve our understanding of several areas of microfluidics (the behaviour, control and manipulation of fluids on a microscopic scale) and lead to the development of materials for such diverse fields as biomedicine and the environment.