Onsager principle as a tool for approximation

Onsager principle is the variational principle proposed by Onsager in his celebrated paper on the reciprocal relation.The principle has been shown to be useful in deriving many evolution equations in soft matter physics.Here the principle is shown to be useful in solving such equations approximately.Two examples are discussed：the diffusion dynamics and gel dynamics.Both examples show that the present method is novel and gives new results which capture the essential dynamics in the system.

Thin film dynamics in coating problems using Onsager principle

A new variational method is proposed to investigate the dynamics of the thin film in a coating flow where a liquid is delivered through a fixed slot gap onto a moving substrate. A simplified ODE system has also been derived for the evolution of the thin film whose thickness hf is asymptotically constant behind the coating front. We calculate the phase diagram as well as the film profiles and approximate the film thickness theoretically, and agreement with the well-known scaling law as Ca2/3 is found.

Capillary filling in closed-end nanotubes

Capillary filling in small length scale is an important process in nanotechnology and microfabrication. When one end of the tube or channel is sealed, it is important to consider the escape of the trapped gas. We develop a dynamic model on capillary filling in closed-end tubes, based on the diffusion-convection equation and Henry＇s law of gas dissolution. We systematically investigate the filling dynamics for various sets of parameters, and compare the results with a previous model which assumes a linear density profile of dissolved gas and neglect the convective term.

Skin formation in drying a film of soft matter solutions：Application of solute based Lagrangian scheme

When a film of soft matter solutions is being dried, a skin layer often forms at its surface, which is a gel-like elastic phase made of concentrated soft matter solutions. We study the dynamics of this process by using the solute based Lagrangian scheme which was proposed by us recently. In this scheme, the process of the gelation（i.e., the change from sol to gel） can be naturally incorporated in the diffusion equation. Effects of the elasticity of the skin phase, the evaporation rate of the solvents, and the initial concentration of the solutions are discussed. Moreover, the condition for the skin formation is provided.

Modelling drying pathways of an evaporating soft matter droplet

Micro-droplets of soft matter solutions have different morphologies upon drying,and can become wrinkled,buckled or cavitated particles.We investigate the morphology evolution of a drying soft matter droplet in this work:at the early stage of drying,wrinkling or cavitation instability can occur in the droplet,depending on the comparison between the critical wrinkling and cavitation pressure;at a later stage of drying,no wrinkles will appear if cavitation happens first,while cavitation can still occur if wrinkling happens first.A three-dimensional phase diagram in the space of elastic length,gel layer thickness and weight loss is provided to illustrate the drying pathways of a soft matter droplet.This diagram can help guide future fabrications of micro-particles with desired morphologies.