Topological Microfluidics [electronic resource] : Nematic Liquid Crystals and Nematic Colloids in Microfluidic Environment / by Anupam Sengupta.

Liquid crystal theory -- Materials and experimental methods -- Functionalization of microfluidic devices -- Nematic liquid crystals confined within a microfluidic device: Static case -- Flow of nematic liquid crystals in a microfluidic environment -- Nematic colloids in microfluidic confinement -- Ongoing research.

This work representsone of the first comprehensive attempts to seamlessly integrate two highly active interdisciplinary domains in soft matter science microfluidics and liquid crystals (LCs). Motivated by the lack of fundamental experiments, Dr. Sengupta initiated systematic investigation of LC flows at micro scales,gaining new insights that are also suggestive ofnovel applications. By tailoring the surface anchoring of the LC molecules and the channel dimensions, different topological constraintswere controllably introduced within the microfluidic devices. These topological constraintswere further manipulated using a flow field, paving the way for Topological Microfluidics. Harnessing topologyon a microfluidic platform, as described in this thesis,opens up capabilities beyond the conventional viscous-dominated microfluidics, promising potential applications in targeted delivery and sorting systems, self-assembled motifs, and novel metamaterial fabrications.

ZDB-2-PHA