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Microstructural ordering of nanofibers in flow-directed assembly

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Abstract

Fabrication of highly ordered and dense nanofibers assemblies is of key importance for high-performance and multi-functional material and device applications. In this work, we design an experimental approach in silico, where shear flow and solvent evaporation are applied to tune the alignment, overlap of nanofibers, and density of the assemblies. Microscopic dynamics of the process are probed by dissipative particle dynamics simulations, where hydrodynamic and thermal fluctuation effects are fully modeled. We find that microstructural ordering of the assembled nanofibers can be established within a specific range of the Peclet numbers and evaporation rates, while the properties of nanofibers and their interaction are crucial for the local stacking order. The underlying mechanisms are elucidated by considering the competition between hydrodynamic coupling and thermal fluctuation. Based on these understandings, a practical design of flow channels for nanofiber assembly with promising mechanical performance is outlined.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contribute equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Engineering Mechanics, and Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    EnLai Gao, ShiJun Wang & ZhiPing Xu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    ChuanHua Duan

  3. Applied Mechanics and Structure Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Mechanics and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    ZhiPing Xu

Authors
  1. EnLai Gao
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  2. ShiJun Wang
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  3. ChuanHua Duan
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  4. ZhiPing Xu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to ChuanHua Duan or ZhiPing Xu.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Opening Project of Applied Mechanics and Structure Safety Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province (Grant No. SZDKF-1601), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11222217, 11472150). The simulations were performed on the Explorer 100 cluster system of Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology.

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Gao, E., Wang, S., Duan, C. et al. Microstructural ordering of nanofibers in flow-directed assembly. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 62, 1545–1554 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-018-9421-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-018-9421-5

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