Utilizing the Plateau-Rayleigh Instability with Heat-Driven Nano-Biosensing Systems

J Lab Autom. 2015 Aug;20(4):463-70. doi: 10.1177/2211068215575688. Epub 2015 Mar 13.

Abstract

Plateau-Rayleigh instability describes the infinite falling stream of fluid breaks into smaller droplets. With the development of nanotechnology, more and more attention is being drawn to Plateau-Rayleigh instability. This surface tension-driven instability performs well in the preparation of the nanoparticles, especially in photonics applications, such as optical micro-resonators in nano-biosensing systems. In this article, we mainly adopt the thermal fluid coupling method. The effect of temperature field on instability is studied with the aid of numerical simulation. In addition, the radius of the inner fluid column, the thickness of the outer fluid, and the temperature gradient are also studied to explore how the factors influence the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. The wavelength of the instability is characterized by droplet diameter, which is formed through the process caused by Plateau-Rayleigh instability.

Keywords: Plateau-Rayleigh instability; numerical simulation; temperature.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Hot Temperature
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Nanotechnology / methods*