Biomedical subjects

Leslie Y Yeo

Publications and source records attributed to Leslie Y Yeo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Electrowetting films on parallel line electrodes.

A lubrication analysis is presented for the spreading dynamics of a high permittivity polar dielectric liquid drop due to an electric field sustained by parallel line electrode pairs separated by a distance R(e). The normal Maxwell stress, concentrated at the tip region near the apparent three-phase contact line, produces a negative capillary pressure that is responsible for pulling out a thin finger of liquid film ahead of the macroscopic drop, analogous to that obtained in self-similar gravity spreading. This front-running electrowetting film maintains a constant contact angle and volume as its front position advances in time t by the universal law 0.43R(e)(t/T(cap))1/3, independent of the drop dimension, surface tension, and wettability. T(cap)=pi(2)mu(l)R(e)/8(epsilon0epsilonl)V2 is the electrocapillary time scale where mu(l) is the liquid viscosity, epsilon0epsilonl the liquid permittivity, and V the applied voltage. This spreading dynamics for the electrowetting film is much faster than the rest of the drop; after a short transient, the latter spreads over the electrowetting film by draining into it. By employing matched asymptotics, we are able to elucidate this unique mechanism, justified by the reasonable agreement with numerical and experimental results. Unlike the usual electrowetting-on-dielectric configuration where the field singularity at the contact line produces a static change in the contact angle consistent with the Lippmann equation, we show that the parallel electrode configuration produces a bulk negative Maxwell pressure within the drop. This Maxwell pressure increases in magnitude toward the contact line due to field confinement and is responsible for a bulk pressure gradient that gives rise to a front-running spontaneous electrowetting film.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Frequency bandwidth limitation of external pulse electric fields in cylindrical micro-channel electrophoresis with analyte velocity modulation.

In capillary electrophoresis, effective optical signal quality improvement is obtained when high frequency (>100 Hz) external pulse fields modulate analyte velocities with synchronous lock-in detection. However, the pulse frequency is constrained under a critical value corresponding to the time required for the bulk viscous flow, which arises due to viscous momentum diffusion from the electro-osmotic slip in the Debye layer, to reach steady-state. By solving the momentum diffusion equation for transient bulk flow in the micro-channel, we show that this set-in time to steady-state and hence, the upper limit for the pulse frequency is dependent on the characteristic diffusion length scale and therefore the channel geometry; for cylindrical capillaries, the set-in time is approximately one half of that for rectangular slot channels. From our estimation of the set-in time and hence the upper frequency modulation limit, we propose that the half width of planar channels does not exceed 100 microm and that the radii of cylindrical channels be limited to 140 microm such that there is a finite working bandwidth range above 100 Hz and below the upper limit in order for flicker noise to be effectively suppressed.

Biopolymers↗

PubMed2005

AC electrospray biomaterials synthesis.

A rapid, viable and safe fabrication method for biomaterials synthesis is reported using high-frequency AC electrospraying. We demonstrate its potential for polymeric nanoparticle fabrication, drug encapsulation in mono-dispersed micron-sized biodegradable polymer shells and the synthesis of 1microm biodegradable fibers with adjustable pore sizes as bioscaffolds for tissue/orthopaedic engineering and wound care therapy. The absence of charge in the ejected drops and fibers facilitates pulmonary drug delivery, polymer encapsulation and minimizes protein/DNA denaturing or compound ionization.

Biocompatible Materials↗

PubMed2004

A new ac electrospray mechanism by Maxwell-Wagner polarization and capillary resonance.

We report a new high-frequency (>10 kHz) ac electrospray that is capable of generating micron-sized electroneutral drops. Unlike its dc counterpart, the drops are not ejected continuously from a sharp Taylor cone but intermittently from a resonating meniscus at the orifice. We attribute the resonant frequency to the capillary-inertia vibration time of the meniscus and the drop ejection to the Maxwell-Wagner electric stress at the drop tip, which is observed to reverse its direction across a crossover frequency. Above this frequency, the oppositely directed Maxwell-Wagner force causes the liquid to recede up the microneedle as an apparent electrowetting effect.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Marangoni instability of a thin liquid film resting on a locally heated horizontal wall.

Long-wave Marangoni instabilities can be induced thermally on a thin liquid layer overlying a horizontal solid substrate with either a uniform or a nonuniform base temperature. For a nonuniform base temperature, the film height thickens near the region where temperature gradients are negligible and severely thins upstream; "fingering" patterns are observed in this region. These states are related to the patterns observed in the isothermal case, which are reasonably well understood. The stability of these spatiotemporally evolving states to transverse disturbances is investigated using a transient growth-type analysis. It is found that the band of unstable wave numbers exhibiting growth is strongly dependent on the lateral extent of the heating source. Inspection of surface reconstructions of the film thickness profiles reveals the existence of three-dimensional patterns in the thinning region behind the thickened front.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Hydrodynamic instability of a thin viscous film between two drops.

Linear stability analysis is employed to derive analytical expressions for the growth rate of disturbances applied to a thin plane-parallel film trapped between two drops. From these expressions, the band of unstable wavenumbers and the "most dangerous" wavenumber are identified for systems in the absence and presence of insoluble surfactant. Marangoni effects are shown to exert a stabilizing influence and reasonably good agreement with experimental observations is found. Subsequent nonlinear analysis indicated amplification of the disturbance growth rate beyond that suggested by linear theory as the film proceeded toward rupture.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Film drainage between two surfactant-coated drops colliding at constant approach velocity.

The drainage of the intervening continuous phase film between two drops approaching each other at constant velocity under the influence of insoluble surfactant is investigated. The mathematical model to be solved is a coupled pair of fourth-order nonlinear partial differential equations which arise from the relationships governing the evolution of the film thickness and the surfactant interfacial concentration in the lubrication approximation. We adopt a simplified approach which uses lubrication theory to describe the flow within the drop, marking a departure from the conventional framework in which Stokes flow is assumed. When the model is solved numerically together with the relevant initial and boundary conditions, the results obtained are compared with those found in the literature using the "boundary integral" method to solve for the flow in the drop phase. The close agreement between the results inspires confidence in the predictions of the simplified approach adopted. The analysis on the effect of insoluble surfactant indicates that its presence retards the drainage of the film: The fully immobile interface limit is recovered even in the presence of a small amount of surfactant above a critical concentration; film rupture is either prolonged or prevented. The retardation of the film was attributed to gradients of interfacial tension which gave rise to the Marangoni effect. A study of the influence of various system parameters on the drainage dynamics was conducted and three regimes of drainage and possible rupture were identified depending on the relative magnitudes of the drop approach velocity and the van der Waals interaction force: Nose rupture, rim rupture, and film immobilization and flattening. Finally, the possibility of forming secondary droplets by encapsulating the continuous phase film into the coalesced drop at rupture was examined and quantified in light of these regimes.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Simulation studies of phase inversion in agitated vessels using a Monte Carlo technique.

A speculative study on the conditions under which phase inversion occurs in agitated liquid-liquid dispersions is conducted using a Monte Carlo technique. The simulation is based on a stochastic model, which accounts for fundamental physical processes such as drop deformation, breakup, and coalescence, and utilizes the minimization of interfacial energy as a criterion for phase inversion. Profiles of the interfacial energy indicate that a steady-state equilibrium is reached after a sufficiently large number of random moves and that predictions are insensitive to initial drop conditions. The calculated phase inversion holdup is observed to increase with increasing density and viscosity ratio, and to decrease with increasing agitation speed for a fixed viscosity ratio. It is also observed that, for a fixed viscosity ratio, the phase inversion holdup remains constant for large enough agitation speeds. The proposed model is therefore capable of achieving reasonable qualitative agreement with general experimental trends and of reproducing key features observed experimentally. The results of this investigation indicate that this simple stochastic method could be the basis upon which more advanced models for predicting phase inversion behavior can be developed.

Journal Article↗