Sculpting stable structures in pure liquids

TL;DR

This paper explores how to create and stabilize reconfigurable structures in pure liquids using flow and light, enabling potential applications in microfluidic devices for controlled encapsulation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the ability to engineer and stabilize complex liquid structures through combined microfluidic and optical techniques, advancing control over non-equilibrium liquid states.

Findings

Structures can be stabilized indefinitely in controlled non-equilibrium states.

Microfluidic flows and opto-thermal fields enable precise control over domain shape and nucleation.

Potential applications include microfluidic devices for encapsulation and stimuli-responsive compartments.

Abstract

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 opto-thermal 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 non-equilibrium 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.