Interfacial dynamics in demixing systems with ultralow interfacial tension

Viscous fingering at ultralow interfacial tension†

We experimentally study the viscous fingering instability in a fluid-fluid phase separated colloid-polymer mixture by means of laser scanning confocal microscopy and microfluidics. We focus on three aspects of the instability. (i) The interface between the two demixed phases has an ultralow surface tension, such that we can address the role of thermal interface fluctuations. (ii) We image the i...

Ultralow interfacial tension in enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

Increasing energy demands require improved methods for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Chemical EOR methods are most promising for maximum oil recovery, but, so far, limited due to high costs of chemicals and environmental concerns. Therefore, there is a huge interest in optimizing procedures for chemical EOR that minimize the amount of chemicals needed and rely on natural compounds, thus decreasi...

Dynamics of Macro–Nano Mechanical Systems; Fixed Interfacial Multiscale Method

The continuum based approaches don’t provide the correct physics in atomic scales. On the other hand, the molecular based approaches are limited by the length and simulated process time. As an attractive alternative, this paper proposes the Fixed Interfacial Multiscale Method (FIMM) for computationally and mathematically efficient modeling of solid structures. The approach is applicable to mult...

Droplet coalescence: drainage, film rupture and neck growth in ultralow interfacial tension systems

We study the coalescence of a drop with its bulk phase in fluid–fluid demixing colloid–polymer mixtures. Such mixtures show behaviour analogous to molecular fluid–fluid systems, but the interfacial tension is between 10 to 10 times smaller than in the molecular case. Such an ultralow interfacial tension has several important consequences and offers significant advantages in the study of droplet...

Ultralow interfacial tensions in water– n -alkane–surfactant systems