Electrohydrodynamics: Triggering and Tracing Electro-Hydrodynamic Liquid-Metal Surface Convection with a Particle Raft (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 22/2017)

Thermo-electro-hydrodynamic instabilities in a dielectric liquid under microgravity

Linear stability analysis of a dielectric fluid confined in a cylindrical annulus of infinite length is performed under microgravity conditions. A radial temperature gradient and a high alternating electric field imposed over the gap induce an effective gravity that can lead to a thermal convection even in the absence of the terrestrial gravity. The linearized governing equations are discretize...

Interfacial Physics: Liquid Metal Phagocytosis: Intermetallic Wetting Induced Particle Internalization (Adv. Sci. 5/2017)

Electrohydrodynamics-Induced Abnormal Electro-Optic Characteristics in a Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Film

This study demonstrates for the first time abnormal electro-optic (EO) characteristics induced by electrohydrodynamics (EHD) in a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film in the presence of a low-frequency (1 kHz) AC voltage. Large LC droplets (20−40 μm) buried in the film can be obtained after the illumination of one UV light with a weak intensity (~0.96 mW/cm2) for 12 h. This film exhibit...

Hydrodynamics and Electrohydrodynamics of Liquid Crystals

We present the hydrodynamic and electrohydrodynamic equations for uni-axial nematic liquid crystals and explain their derivation in detail. To derive hydrodynamic equations, which are valid for suuciently small frequencies in the limit of long wavelengths, one identiies rst the hydrodynamic variables , which come in two groups: quantities obeying conservation laws and variables associated with ...

Metamaterials: Snapping Mechanical Metamaterials under Tension (Adv. Mater. 39/2015).

By exploiting snap-through instabilities, D. Pasini and co-workers design a damage-tolerant mechanical metamaterial that snaps sequentially under tension, thereby accommodating a very large deformation up to 150%. On page 5931, they describe how the nonlinear mechanical response of the metamaterial can be robustly programmed by tuning the architecture of its unit cell.