Graduate Research and Discovery Symposium (GRADS)

Advisor

Konstantin G. Kornev

Document Type

Poster

Department

Materials Science and Engineering

Publication Date

Spring 2013

Abstract

In recent years, magnetic nanorods have caught great attention due to their unique features appealing to composite, medical, sensoric, optofluidic, and microrheology applications. In composite manufacturing, when the curing carrier has a time-dependent rheology, the alignment kinetics significantly depends on the processing time and rheological properties of the carrier. We study the kinetics of ordering of an assemble of nanorods suspended in a liquid with time-increasing viscosity. We introduce an orientational distribution function of nanorods and theoretically study the kinetics of nanorod ordering. Different regimes of ordering are revealed and classified. When the liquid solidifies exponentially fast, we show that the nanorods would not always align with the external magnetic field. Some nanorods could be frozen halfway to their equilibrium orientation parallel to the external field. The orientational distribution function of nanorods was analyzed by studying nanorod alignment in evaporating gels. The dark field optical microscopy was employed. Preliminary experimental data support the theory.

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