Project Title: Engineered Molecular Fluidics.

My research aim is to develop actuation principles and techniques for manipulation of fluid monolayers on solid substrates by using electric fields. Electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) methods will be tested for control of flow, compression, and extension of monolayers. Based on the knowledge gained from the dependences of flow properties on molecular size and conformation as well as on substrate structure, technological capabilities for spreading, compressing, and aligning polymer monolayers will be developed. The manipulation techniques will be further developed to pattern polymer monolayers and transfer the patterns on various surfaces, creating materials with surfaces that may be ultrahydrophobic, anisotropically wetted, or directionally conductive.

Fig. 1: Microfabricated electrowetting for control and manipulation of fluid monolayers.

The manipulation and transfer of microscopic liquid volumes could find application in new types of nanofluidic devices. The spreading of ultra-thin films in well-defined, electrically controlled "lanes" is a precursor to new microsensors, two-dimensional nanosynthesis "reactors", and single biomolecule manipulators. The technique of spreading and transport of long polymer molecules could be applied to the manipulation of single DNA molecules, with the aim of making prototype devices in which one DNA molecule is spread, extended, and held at a specific location on a chip. Such techniques could be used in genetic characterization based on a single DNA molecule.