464f Directed Assembly of Colloidal Disk Particles by Gravitation, Electrical Field and Flow Field

Zhengdong Cheng, Peng He, and Andres F. Mejia. Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843

Colloidal disk particle is one of the least studied as a member of the anisotropic particle family. The study of the assembly of disk particles is significant due to its application in the fields of oil recovery, liquid crystal, soil etc. Monodisperse wax emulsions were prepared by electrospraying of melt wax. We utilize a variety of methods to investigate the aggregation, sedimentation and assembly of wax disk particles. Wax disk particle sample appear phase separation in sedimentation experiment via LUMiSizer(R) particle analyzer. The flow behavior of microdisks is studied in micro-channels to mimic the red blood cells in vessels. Directed assembly of the microdisks is also explored in the electrical field via device from microfabrication.