Current Research
- Nanoparticle synthesis:
Nanoparticles are building blocks of nanotechnology and the advances
crucially depend upon the ability to synthesize these particles, on an
industrial scale, in a controlled and reproducible manner. Although the
formation of spherical particles is fairly well researched, the synthesis
of non-spherical or complex nanoparticles is poorly understood. We aim to
undertake several studies to clearly identify factors affecting size,
shape and distribution for nanoparticles and identify parameters crucial
in large scale synthesis.
- Colloidal Physics:
Charged drops and vesicles are ubiquitous in nature. Ensembles of charged
fluid drops dispersed in an electrolyte solution occur commonly in
colloidal processing and in many microfluidic and nanotechnological
applications. Similarly, charged vesicles and biological cells embedded in
high salt concentration solutions are found in in-vivo conditions. We
investigate the deformation of drops and vesicles in electrolyte
solutions, by linear and nonlinear stability analysis supported by
numerical calculations.
- Hydrodynamic and Electrohydrodynamic stability:
Flow over soft materials is qualitatively different from that over rigid
surfaces because the time scale (\eta/E), the ratio of viscosity and shear
modulus, can be of the same order as the shear rates in the system. This
leads to a dynamical coupling between the solid and the fluid giving rise
to new instabilities. We consider the effect of oscillatory shear, which
represents most biological flows, on these instabilities.
Electrohydrodynamics and electrokinetics find extensive use in Lithography
and in colloidal systems respectively. The study of stability of thin
films under applied electric field has recently gained importance because
of possible applications in Nanotechnology and microfluidics. Better
understanding of these systems can lead to tighter control of the product quality.
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Recent Publications
- Ganvir,V, Lele, AK, Thaokar, RM and Gautam, BP "Prediction of extrudate swell in polymer melt extrusion using an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) based finite element method ",Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics,156,1-2,21-28,2009
- Thaokar, RM " Hydrodynamic interaction between two tori", EPJB,61,47-58,2008
- Thaokar RM " Brownian dynamics of a rotating torus", Colloids and surfaces A,317,1-3,650-657,2008
- Thaokar RM, Schiessel H and Kulic I M," Hydrodynamics of a rotating
torus", EPJB , 60,325-336,2007.
- Juvekar, VA, Joshi, A and Thaokar, RM, Enhancement of gas absorption by
sparingly soluble fine particles reacting instantaneously with a dissolved
gas: A cell model, Industrial engineering and Chemistry, 45(10), 3283 -
3295, 2007.
- Ganvir, V, Lele, AK, Thaokar, RM, Gautam BP, "Simulation of viscoelastic
flows of polymer solutions in abrupt contractions using an arbitrary
Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) based finite element method", Journal of
Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 143,157-169,2007.
- Igor M. Kulic, H. Mohrbach, R. Thaokar, H. Schiessel, "Equation of state
of looped DNA", Physical Review E, Phys. Rev. E 75, 011913-1-23, 2007.
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