Issue 1, 2020, Issue in Progress

Acoustophoretic assembly of millimeter-scale Janus fibers

Abstract

This article presents a method for the assembly of millimeter-scale Janus fibers using acoustophoresis as an assembly mechanism. An acoustic flow cell mounted to a 3D printer combines acoustophoresis and additive manufacturing in a unique approach that allows for the assembly of textured Janus fibers. A dispersion consisting of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) filler particles in a UV curable polymer resin is passed through an acoustically excited capillary tube. To fundamentally understand this process, we develop a suspension balance model that accounts for acoustophoresis and concentration-driven shear-induced diffusion. Once assembled, the particle-polymer dispersion is cured using UV illumination to create a polymer composite fiber with particles immobilized on one side in a Janus-like configuration. The Janus fiber is observed to modify the light transmission profile when rotated on an optical microscope stage. Tensile measurements of the fiber show that the Young's modulus of the Janus fiber (50.5 MPa) is approximately twice that of a fiber fabricated from the polymer alone (24.7 MPa). The process we describe here could serve as a pathway for the fabrication of a variety of functional Janus fibers with possible applications to wearable textiles, soft robotics or surgical sutures.

Graphical abstract: Acoustophoretic assembly of millimeter-scale Janus fibers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Nov 2019
Accepted
19 Dec 2019
First published
02 Jan 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 434-443

Acoustophoretic assembly of millimeter-scale Janus fibers

M. Akella, S. Shabaniverki and J. J. Juárez, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 434 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09796A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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