Studies on understanding flow in microchannels

       It is important to understand the behavior of fluids in nanoscale systems, where the surface-to-volume ratio is very high, and the criticaldimensions can be comparable to the size of the fluid molecules. Under such scale, thecontinuum hypothesis may not be valid and one needs to perform atomistic simulation of liquid transport by using molecular dynamics (MD). In addition, the surface propertiesplay an important role for nanochannels, in particular, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature of the wetting surface. To characterize such liquid transport in nanoscale, surface force apparatus (SFA) is needed, which provides important results related to the slip length for different fluids (water and Lennard-Jones liquid). When such boundary conditions are known experimentally, they can be used for validating the MD simulations of the corresponding fluid in nanochannels. In parallel effort, the significance of finite sizes of the ions and the discrete nature of the solvent molecules for electroosmotic flows in nanochannels need to be understood. This will involve nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations along with the modification of Poission-Boltzmann equation, which is used currently for the electrokinetic flows in microchannels. The results will provide design basis for a hybrid nano/micro fluidic device, which can used for separation of multiple species.
       The execution of the proposed project involves the following major activities:
       (1) Setting up of a Nanotechnology Centre on the IIT Bombay campus accessible to all researchers within the campus and outside as well as put in place a set-up for a virtual centre based on networking
       (2) Setting up of a management structure that will oversee the effective functioning of this centre.
       (3) Carrying out research activities in the areas of Nanomaterials, Nanoelectronics and Nano-biotechnology leading to specific deliverables.
       (4) Create technically sophisticated manpower for Nanotechnology research, engineering and manufacturing by:
       * Enabling a large number of doctoral students to conduct their research work in the Nanotechnology centre
       * Creating a suite of courses for graduate level teaching of nanotechnology, and admitting masters and doctoral students to this programme ? one that would have a strong experimental research component;
       * Setting up an inter-university cooperative programme in which graduate students from other universities can come and take courses & do their research projects in the facility created;
       * Running summer courses in nanotechnology for university teachers and industry professionals.
       The first two activities can proceed more or less concurrently. For effective functioning of this centre, we shall have a Nanotechnology Users Committee, which would consist of Dean of Research as convenor, Head, CRNTS as the member-secretary and three faculty members, each working in the areas of Nanoelectronics, Nanomaterials, and Nanobiotechnology at IITB as members. In addition, there will be one representative each from TIFR and BARC to oversee the functioning of this centre and for its effective utilization by outside users. IIT Bombay would annually organize one internal workshop on Nanotechnology where the faculty members using the facility would be asked to present their work progress. A summary of this workshop proceedings would be circulated to the relevant research groups within the country.