Title: Modeling Electric Field Guided Assembly of Nano/Bio Filaments

Speaker: Wing Kam Liu, Director of NSF Summer Institute on Nano Mechanics and Materials, Northwestern University, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Date/Time: Monday, July 10, 2006, 2:30 – 3:30 pm (PST)

Location: Building 915/W133, videoconferenced to Building 980, Room 95  (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: The characterization and manipulation of complex biological systems has reached a stage to resolve various levels of details. We briefly outline the immersed electrohydrodynamics finite element method (IEFEM) coupled with multiphysics features such as protein molecular dynamics and adhesion mechanics for solving a class of bio-nanofluidics problems. We then apply the multiphysics of the composite electric field for the guided alignment of the carbon nanotube (CNT), and separation of bio-molecules, such as virused and DNA. Preliminary multi-scale and multi-physics examples demonstrate that the proposed IEFEM provides an ideal modeling platform for the modeling of multi-physics biological systems, including heart, arteries and veins, microcirculation blood flow, cell-extra cellular matrix interaction, and electric field guided assembly of nanowires. In particular, the IEFEM code is being used in the modeling of nano-electromechanical (NEM) sensor fabrications. The dynamic process of the attraction, alignment, and deposition of nano/bio filaments between micro-electrodes is modeled by integrating electrophoretic and dielectrophoretic forces in addition to a drag force caused by electroosmosis. The various dynamic processes and assembled patterns are explored by comparing our simulation results with experimental observations. The NEM sensors will be used for the measurement of cell traction forces for the understanding of the focal adhesion complex and cell motility.

CSRI POC: Jonathan Zimmerman, (925) 294-2437, Jean Lee, (925) 294-6677