Structured Spheres Generated by an In-Fibre Fluid Instability
This invention is used in a variety of applications such as drug delivery, chemical and biological catalysis and cosmetics.
Researchers
Technology
This invention harnesses the inherent scalability of fiber production and in-fiber Plateau-Rayleigh capillary instability for the fabrication of uniformly sized, structure spherical particles spanning an exceptionally wide range of sizes. Composite and spherical particles are produced by arranging a variety of structures and materials in a macroscopic scaled-up model of the fiber. These particles can include core-shell particles, two-compartment 'Janus' particles, and multi-sectioned 'beach ball' particles.
Problem Addressed
Bottom-up approaches for forming particles are limited by particle coalescence and agglomeration during particle growth. Therefore, there is a need for efficient particle fabrication over a wide range of sizes, from a variety of materials, and in many different structures.
Advantages
- The particles could span an exceptionally wide range of sizes (from 2 millimeters down to 20 nanometers)
- Highly efficient process
Publications
"Structured Spheres Generated by an In-Fibre Fluid Instability." Nature, July 26, 2012.
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