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Bursting drops in solid dielectrics caused by high voltages.

ABSTRACT: Fluid drops tend to be spheres--a shape that minimizes surface energy. In thunderstorm clouds, drops can become unstable and emit thin jets when charged beyond certain limits. The instability of electrified drops in gases and liquids has been widely studied and used in applications including ink-jet printing, electrospinning nanofibers, microfluidics and electrospray ionization. Here we report a different scenario: drops in solids become unstable and burst under sufficiently high electric fields. We find the instability of drops in solids morphologically resembles that in liquids, but the critical electric field for the instability follows a different scaling due to elasticity of solids. Our observations and theoretical models not only advance the fundamental understanding of electrified drops, but also suggest a new failure mechanism of high energy density dielectric polymers, which have diverse applications ranging from capacitors for power grids and electric vehicles to muscle-like transducers for soft robots and energy harvesting.

SUBMITTER: Wang Q

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3681824 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Bursting drops in solid dielectrics caused by high voltages.

Wang Qiming Q Suo Zhigang Z Zhao Xuanhe X

Nature communications 20120101

Fluid drops tend to be spheres--a shape that minimizes surface energy. In thunderstorm clouds, drops can become unstable and emit thin jets when charged beyond certain limits. The instability of electrified drops in gases and liquids has been widely studied and used in applications including ink-jet printing, electrospinning nanofibers, microfluidics and electrospray ionization. Here we report a different scenario: drops in solids become unstable and burst under sufficiently high electric fields ...[more]

PMID: 23093194

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Project description:Microwave driven dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a process in which the large polarization present in an electron spin reservoir is transferred to nuclei, thereby enhancing NMR signal intensities. In solid dielectrics there are three mechanisms that mediate this transfer--the solid effect (SE), the cross effect (CE), and thermal mixing (TM). Historically these mechanisms have been discussed theoretically using thermodynamic parameters and average spin interactions. However, the SE and the CE can also be modeled quantum mechanically with a system consisting of a small number of spins and the results provide a foundation for the calculations involving TM. In the case of the SE, a single electron-nuclear spin pair is sufficient to explain the polarization mechanism, while the CE requires participation of two electrons and a nuclear spin, and can be used to understand the improved DNP enhancements observed using biradical polarizing agents. Calculations establish the relations among the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) frequencies and the microwave irradiation frequency that must be satisfied for polarization transfer via the SE or the CE. In particular, if δ, Δ < ω(0I), where δ and Δ are the homogeneous linewidth and inhomogeneous breadth of the EPR spectrum, respectively, we verify that the SE occurs when ω(M) = ω(0S) ± ω(0I), where ω(M), ω(0S) and ω(0I) are, respectively, the microwave, and the EPR and NMR frequencies. Alternatively, when Δ > ω(0I) > δ, the CE dominates the polarization transfer. This two-electron process is optimized when ω(0S(1))-ω(0S(2)) = ω(0I) and ω(M)~ω(0S(1)) or ω(0S(2)), where ω(0S(1)) and ω(0S(2)) are the EPR Larmor frequencies of the two electrons. Using these matching conditions, we calculate the evolution of the density operator from electron Zeeman order to nuclear Zeeman order for both the SE and the CE. The results provide insights into the influence of the microwave irradiation field, the external magnetic field, and the electron-electron and electron-nuclear interactions on DNP enhancements.

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Bursting drops in solid dielectrics caused by high voltages.

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Bursting drops in solid dielectrics caused by high voltages.

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