| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/G02880X/1 |
| Title: |
Optical Coherence Tomography Picorheology |
| Principal Investigator: |
Waigh, Dr TA |
| Other Investigators: |
|
| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
|
| Project Partners: |
|
| Department: |
Physics and Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Manchester, The |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research |
| Starts: |
18 May 2009 |
Ends: |
17 September 2012 |
Value (£): |
313,263
|
| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Chemical Biology |
Complex fluids & soft solids |
| Optical Devices & Subsystems |
|
|
| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
|
| Related Grants: |
|
| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
|
29 Oct 2008
|
Physics Prioritisation Panel Meeting
|
Announced
|
|
|
Summary on Grant Application Form |
|
A large range of materials are classified as 'soft matter'. These materials include biological samples (DNA, proteins, cells, food gels etc), but also many industrial products (soap powders, paints etc). The manner in which soft materials deform and flow when they experience an external force is a fascinating and varied area of scientific research, termed 'rheology'. We plan to build three new instruments to probe the rheology of soft materials. These instruments will allow us to explore the flow properties of minute amounts of biological sample (picolitres) over a huge range of times scales for both runny and more viscous fluids. Crucially the techniques are not harmful to the specimens and can be used on fragile medical samples such as blood clots. When pushed by an external force soft materials can resist the motion (shear thicken) or increasingly travel with the flow (shear thin). However recent studies have shown (in contrast with previous accepted wisdom) that the external forces are not experienced uniformly by specimens of soft materials. The extreme case is where an external force spontaneously gives a fluid that is uniform when stationary a dynamic banded microstructure. The sensitivity of our picorheometer to micron sized quantities of fluids is ideal for us to explore this dynamic banding phenomena in more detail, beyond that available in state of the art equipment (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging).
|
|
Key Findings |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Potential use in non-academic contexts |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Impacts |
|
| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
|
| Date Materialised |
|
|
|
|
Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
| Project URL: |
|
| Further Information: |
|
| Organisation Website: |
http://www.man.ac.uk |