Arun Ramchandran

The focus of our group is the comprehension and prediction of macroscale properties of a suspension (mixture of particles and liquids) by studying microscale/nanoscale interactions and properties, using a combination of experiment and theory. Our current projects are in such diverse areas as oil extraction, fabric softener design, mass transfer in flowing blood, motion of biological particles in vascular networks, and polymer blending. New Projects Available: Our research focuses on double emulsions (DEs) and Janus droplets (JDs), which have promising applications in drug delivery and controlled release due to their unique multi-phase structures. Despite their potential, industrial use is limited by instability issues like droplet coalescence, break-up, and osmotic imbalances that disrupt uniformity. To address this, we will study the formation of DEs and JDs by analyzing how droplets merge within a third fluid using precision measurements of the thinning film between them. Additionally, we have developed a computer-controlled device to investigate coalescence through controlled collisions of DEs and JDs in various configurations.