Emeršič Tadej, Zhang Rui, Kos Žiga, Čopar Simon, Osterman Natan, de Pablo Juan J, Tkalec Uroš
Institute of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Sci Adv. 2019 Feb 15;5(2):eaav4283. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aav4283. eCollection 2019 Feb.
Pure liquids in thermodynamic equilibrium are structurally homogeneous. In liquid crystals, flow and light pulses are used to create reconfigurable domains with polar order. Moreover, through careful engineering of concerted microfluidic flows and localized optothermal fields, it is possible to achieve complete control over the nucleation, growth, and shape of such domains. Experiments, theory, and simulations indicate that the resulting structures can be stabilized indefinitely, provided the liquids are maintained in a controlled nonequilibrium state. The resulting sculpted liquids could find applications in microfluidic devices for selective encapsulation of solutes and particles into optically active compartments that interact with external stimuli.
处于热力学平衡状态的纯液体在结构上是均匀的。在液晶中，利用流动和光脉冲来创建具有极性有序的可重构域。此外，通过精心设计协同的微流体流动和局部光热场，可以实现对此类域的成核、生长和形状的完全控制。实验、理论和模拟表明，只要将液体保持在可控的非平衡状态，所形成的结构就能无限期地稳定下来。由此产生的造型液体可应用于微流体装置，用于将溶质和颗粒选择性封装到与外部刺激相互作用的光学活性隔室中。
