Many industrial systems depend on the rheology-modifiers for specific applications such as in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. The constituent parts of the solutions often play a multifaceted role to optimize the physicochemical processes involved such as in the use of surfactants to encourage spreading of spray droplets on leaves as well as the absorption of the chemicals into the leaves. Although a great deal of effort is spent on optimizing the chemical formulations, a surprisingly large percentage of agrochemicals do not end up on the target surfaces (up to 99%) and lead to pollution through contaminated runoff and spray drift. Future “precision agriculture” techniques must account for the way in which the rheology is modified by various adjuvants in agrochemicals (and excipients in pharmaceuticals). In the context of spray deposition of agrochemicals, at what point does the micro/nanoscale transport processes meet the macroscale observation? How might we visualize and control such transitions? What rheological parameters may be extracted from drop impact? All these questions fall under the realm of interfacial fluid mechanics and the ability to harness interfacial phenomena will provide avenues for taking strides in optimizing spray deposition of agrochemicals. We show how a single drop impact can be used to understand its rheological origins through various non-contact high-speed optical imaging techniques.
Bio:
Min obtained his bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from Pennsylvania State University in 2012 and master’s degree in Sustainable Engineering from Villanova University in 2014. In 2017, he obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University in the area of complex fluids and multiphase flows, where his research mainly focused on the experimental and theoretical understanding of the air entrainment problem in drop impact as well as the physics of colloid deposition in the inkjet printing technology. Min also conducted postdoctoral work with Prof. Howard Stone in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at Princeton University, where he worked on a range of fluid dynamics problems. Min is currently an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Baylor University where his research is broadly in the field of interfacial fluid mechanics.
