The DEW Research Laboratory was founded in April 2010 at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili by Profs. Joan Rosell-Llompart and Jordi Grifoll, to do research at the interface between fluid mechanics and electrostatics.
Main focus areas:
Electrosprays (electro-hydro-dynamic atomization, EHDA): electrocapillary modes, Taylor cones, cone-jet and droplet formation by jet breakup, spray development, droplet transport dynamics, Coulomb fissions, droplet-to-particle transformations (evaporation and solute precipitation, etc.), particulate films and coatings.
Electrospinning: jet formation and thinning, jet-to-fiber transformations, fiber transport, fiber collection, fibrous mats, fiber control, fiber alignment.
Electrohydrodynamic printing (near-field electrospinning, NFES): 2D patterning and 3D printing and by electrostatic jet stirring, jet dynamics, jet-substrate mechanical and electrostatic interactions.
Application of the above phenomena to engineer functional materials of real value, such as nanoparticles, nanofibers, or thin coatings. Such materials find application in catalysis, drug delivery, nonlinear optics, electronics, energy, medical devices, and other fields.