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D T Wasan

Publications and source records attributed to D T Wasan.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Structural transitions in two-dimensional hard-sphere systems.

We spread randomly noncharged steel particles (diameter, 1.59 mm) on a silicon wafer to form a two-dimensional hard-sphere system. The particle structure versus the particle coverage was monitored. We observed the particle structural transition from liquidlike to triangular-lattice crystal-like with increasing particle coverage by analyzing the particle structure factor. The particle coverage at which the structural transition occurs was quantified by the curves of S(max) (A) and G6 (A); S(max) is the amplitude of the first peak of the structure factor (depicting the particle positional order), and G6 is the bond orientation order parameter. We also conducted a Monte Carlo simulation study. The Monte Carlo simulation results show good agreement with the experimental results at low particle area fractions. However, at high area fractions, the experimentally observed particle structure is less organized than that generated by simulations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Texture and stability of emulsions and suspensions: role of oscillatory structural forces.

The stability of macro-dispersions, such as emulsions and particle suspensions, is characterized in different ways-creaming or sedimentation, flocculation of drops/particles, coalescence between drops or phase separation. Several novel experimental techniques have been developed in our laboratory to examine both the texture and stability of emulsions and suspensions. These methods include direct image analysis to extract the emulsion radial distribution function and to determine the effective inter-droplet interaction, and the Kossel diffraction technique, which is used to obtain the structural factors. The film thinning interferometric technique employing our capillary force balance is used to study the role of the surfactant micelles/colloidal particle-layering phenomenon and the in-layer structure formation. Monte Carlo simulations and a theoretical model based on the Ornstein-Zernike equation of statistical mechanics are used to discern the effects of the micelle/particle structuring and layering phenomenon in confined films between two droplets/particles. These experiments and theoretical calculations are used to gain a fundamental understanding of the role of long-range oscillatory (repulsion/attraction) structural interactions on the stability of both mono- and polydispersed systems. During the past 10 years, our research group has worked on several problems of interest to industry in which structural forces in emulsions and suspensions appear to play an important role. This paper is an overview of some of these relevant examples.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Foaming in simulated radioactive waste.

Radioactive waste treatment process usually involves concentration of radionuclides before waste can be immobilized by storing it in stable solid form. Foaming is observed at various stages of waste processing like SRAT (sludge receipt and adjustment tank) and melter operations. This kind of foaming greatly limits the process efficiency. The foam encountered can be characterized as a three-phase foam that incorporates finely divided solids (colloidal particles). The solid particles stabilize foaminess in two ways: by adsorption of biphilic particles at the surfaces of foam lamella and by layering of particles trapped inside the foam lamella. During bubble generation and rise, solid particles organize themselves into a layered structure due to confinement inside the foam lamella, and this structure provides a barrier against the coalescence of the bubbles, thereby causing foaming. Our novel capillary force balance apparatus was used to examine the particle-particle interactions, which affect particle layer formation in the foam lamella. Moreover, foaminess shows a maximum with increasing solid particle concentration. To explain the maximum in foaminess, a study was carried out on the simulated sludge, a non-radioactive simulant of the radioactive waste sludge at SRS, to identify the parameters that affect the foaming in a system characterized by the absence of surface-active agents. This three-phase foam does not show any foam stability unlike surfactant-stabilized foam. The parameters investigated were solid particle concentration, heating flux, and electrolyte concentration. The maximum in foaminess was found to be a net result of two countereffects that arise due to particle-particle interactions: structural stabilization and depletion destabilization. It was found that higher electrolyte concentration causes a reduction in foaminess and leads to a smaller bubble size. Higher heating fluxes lead to greater foaminess due to an increased rate of foam lamella generation in the sludge system.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed2001

Entropically driven ordering in a binary colloidal suspension near a planar wall.

The local ordering of a binary hard-sphere mixture with a size ratio 1:10 near a planar wall is investigated by means of integral equation theory. We find that when the bulk volume fraction of the smaller particles is greater than 15%, the larger particles (at a bulk volume fraction of 1% and higher) become highly localized on the wall surface, forming a quasi-two-dimensional surface-localized monolayer. Our results are discussed and compared against computer simulation data with an effective one-component Hamiltonian that is based on sphere-sphere and sphere-wall depletion potentials.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Density-functional theory for an electrolyte confined by thin charged walls.

Results are reported for the primitive model of an electrolyte and for the solvent primitive model of an electrolyte for the case where these fluids are confined by two charged walls. When the walls are thin, the confined electrolyte inside the walls is affected by the charge on both the inside and the outside of the walls. In the case of the primitive model (PM), this system has been studied previously using a singlet integral equation. Our density-functional (DF) study is more general because the fluids inside and outside the walls are constrained to have the same chemical potential and because solvent effects are considered, albeit at a crude level. The singlet integral equation does not consider the chemical potential constraint explicitly. We find that for the low density PM, the DF and integral equation approaches yield, except for a very narrow pore, very similar results. When solvent molecules are considered, the profiles become oscillatory. The co-ion density profiles are particularily interesting because the repulsive electrostatic potential and the effect of the increased pressure in "pushing" the co-ions against the wall compete.

Electrolytes↗
PubMed1993

Hemoglobin multiple emulsion as an oxygen delivery system.

Multiple emulsion technology provides a mechanism for the encapsulation and in vivo delivery of drugs, proteins, and other materials which would otherwise be degraded, cleared rapidly, or toxic to the host. These feasibility studies were performed to evaluate a prototype Hb multiple emulsion as a stable oxygen delivery system. A concentrated solution of hemoglobin (Hb) was encapsulated in the form of a Hb-in-oil-in-water (Hb/O/W) multiple emulsion. Studies using mineral oil demonstrated that Hb multiple emulsions have several important characteristics that are compatible with utility as a blood substitute. These include: satisfactory rheological properties and good hydrodynamic stability compared to whole blood, high encapsulation concentration of Hb and high encapsulation efficiency with little met-hemoglobin generation, and satisfactory oxygen affinity and cooperativity compared to whole blood. Isovolemic exchange transfusions of Hb/O/W multiple emulsion can support life in rats whose hematocrit has been reduced to levels (5% or lower) that are incompatible with survival, and induces no acute toxicity. These results are consistent with the utility of Hb/O/W as an oxygen-carrying red blood cell substitute or organ perfusion media.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

A mathematical model for Rn sampling by activated C adsorption.

This paper describes a diffusion/adsorption model that has been developed for the transport of Rn in an activated carbon porous bed. It is useful in studying the carbon canister Rn sampling technique used for monitoring Rn levels in air. The model calculates the amount of Rn adsorbed by the canister for various situations. The predictions of the response of the canister to both constant, as well as a periodic varying concentration of Rn in the surroundings, compares very well with experimental data. Based on this model, it is possible to simulate on a computer the response of the canister for an arbitrarily varying surrounding Rn level. Such computer simulations are effective tools in the design of a more accurate carbon canister monitor.

Adsorption↗