| Abstract |
The aim of this proposal is to study the emergent collective behavior of smart functionalized nanoparticles for i) efficient oil recovery and ii) solar steam generation. In 2012, it was shown that self-propelled catalytic nanomotors coated with a superhydrophobic layer can capture and transport very e ectively oil droplets. The ability of these so-called microsubmarines to interact strongly with oil droplets leads to unprecedented possibilities for e ective oilwater separation. Another exciting discovery in 2013 concerns the generation of steam using core-shell nanoparticles. Nanoparticles consisting of a silica core and coated with a gold shell suspended in water generate steam when illuminated by sunlight. The solar steam generation opens the door to exciting potential applications such as distillation, desalination, and driving of steam turbines for electricity generation. Here we propose to study systematically the collective behavior of these functionalized nanoparticles for both oil recovery and solar steam generation using largescale particle simulations as a function of the relevant system parameters such as density, size, shape, self-propulsion speed, interactions of the nanoparticles. Such a systematic study will allow us to describe the collective dynamics in terms of a continuum theory in order to make predictions on a macroscopic scale. |
