Related papers: Chapter: Energy conversion at water-solid interfac…
The description of electron-electron interactions in transport problems is both analytically and numerically difficult. Here we show that a much simpler description of electron transport in the presence of interactions can be achieved in…
The results of molecular dynamics simulations of the properties of water in an aqueous ionic solution close to an interface with a model metallic electrode are described. In the simulations the electrode behaves as an ideally polarizable…
The development of microfluidic devices is still hindered by the lack of robust fundamental building blocks that constitute any fluidic system. An attractive approach is optical actuation because light field interaction is contactless and…
The transition to a sustainable, low-carbon energy future requires transformative advancements in energy and environmental technologies. Carbon capture and sequestration, underground hydrogen storage, and nuclear waste geological disposal…
Hybrid plasmonic devices involve a nanostructured metal supporting localized surface plasmons to amplify light-matter interaction, and a non-plasmonic material to functionalize charge excitations. Application-relevant epitaxial…
We consider a finite region of a lattice of weakly interacting geodesic flows on manifolds of negative curvature and we show that, when rescaling the interactions and the time appropriately, the energies of the flows evolve according to a…
This work presents experimental and theoretical analyses of electrokinetic flow in microchannels with glass and silica surfaces across a broad range of electrolyte concentrations (0.01 to 100 mM). We demonstrate simple but effective…
The movement of ionic solutions is an essential part of biology and technology. Fluidics, from nano- to micro- to microfluidics, is a burgeoning area of technology which is all about the movement of ionic solutions, on various scales. Many…
The evaporation of water is ubiquitous in nature and industrial technologies. The known mechanism for evaporation is "thermal evaporation" which highlights the energy input for evaporation is via heat. Due to the weak absorption of water to…
Solid/liquid interfaces control various processes of technological relevance in the process industry and many fundamental physicochemical phenomena. This work examines the link between the atomistic description of mass transfer at…
Blue energy relies on the chemical potential difference generated between solutions of high and low ionic strength and would provide a sun-and-wind independent energy source at estuaries around the world. Converting this osmotic energy…
Self-driven nanofluidic flow at the liquid-air interface is a non-intuitive phenomenon. This flow behaviour was not driven by classical pressure difference or evaporation only. Depending on the position of the nanofluidic pore we can…
The energy transition is also about switching to electricity-based technologies such as heat pumps and electric mobility. They avoid heat as an intermediate step and are therefore much more efficient. This can significantly reduce the…
The development of microfluidic devices has recently revived the interest in "old" problems associated with transport at, or across, interfaces. As the characteristic sizes are decreased, the use of pressure gradients to transport fluids…
The surface charge of a water interface determines many fundamental processes in physical chemistry and interface science, and it has been intensively studied for over a hundred years. We summarize experimental methods to characterize the…
Energy and water issues are the two main global challenges faced by human in the past decade. The rapid growth in global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have encouraged the exploration of renewable energy sources as…
This is a turning point for nanofluidics. Recent progress allows envisioning both fundamental discoveries for the transport of fluids at the ultimate scales, and disruptive technologies for the water-energy nexus.
We show that an electro-osmotic flow near the slippery hydrophobic surface depends strongly on the mobility of surface charges, which are balanced by counter-ions of the electrostatic diffuse layer. For a hydrophobic surface with immobile…
Active fluids are intrinsically out-of-equilibrium systems due to the internal energy injection of the active constituents. We show here that a transition from a motion-less isotropic state towards a flowing polar one can be possibly driven…
This fluid dynamics video showcases how optically induced electrokinetic forces can be used to drive three-dimensional micro-vortices. The strong microfluidic vortices are used constructively in conjunction with other electrokinetic forces…