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Content archived on 2024-06-18

DROPLETS AND EMULSIONS: DYNAMICS AND RHEOLOGY

Objective

The applications of micro- and nanofluidics are now numerous, including lab-on-chip systems based upon micro-manipulation of discrete droplets, emulsions of interest in food and medical industries (drug delivery), analytical separation techniques of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, and facile handling of mass-limited samples. The problems involved contain diverse nano- and microstructures with a variety of lifetimes, touching atomistic scales (contact lines, thin films), mesoscopic collective behaviour (emulsions, glassy, soft-jammed systems) and hydrodynamical spatio-temporal evolutions (droplets and interface dynamics) with complex rheology and strong non-equilibrium properties. The interplay of the dynamics at the different scales involved still remains to be fully understood.
The fundamental research I address in this project aims to set up the unified framework for the characterization and modelling of interfaces in confined geometries by means of an innovative micro- and nanofluidic numerical platform.
The main challenging and ambitious questions I intend to address in my project are: How the stability of micro- and nanodroplets is affected by thermal gradients? Or by boundary corrugation and modulated wettability? Or by complex rheological properties of the dispersed and/or continuous phases? How these effects can be tuned to design new optimal devices for emulsions production? What are the rheological properties of these new soft materials? How confinement in small structures changes the bulk emulsion properties? What is the molecular-hydrodynamical mechanism at the origin of contact line slippage? How to realistically model the fluid-particle interactions on the molecular scale?
The strength of the project lies in an innovative and state-of-the-art numerical approach, based on mesoscopic Lattice Boltzmann Models, coupled to microscopic molecular physics, supported by theoretical modelling, lubrication theory and experimental validation.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2011-StG_20101014
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TOR VERGATA
EU contribution
€ 1 000 302,84
Address
VIA CRACOVIA 50
00133 Roma
Italy

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Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (2)

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