Dynamics of colloids in phase separation

Our ability to understand and control interfacial phenomena on nano- to micro- scale is of extreme importance for efficient extraction, separation, processing and recycling of natural resources. Paraffinic froth treatment in oil sands extraction relies on strong colloidal association between water droplets, fine particles and aspaltene precipitates to produce bitumen of high quality. However, it remains challenging to quantitatively understand the dynamics of early stage phase separation in multicomponent liquid systems, due to the very small length scale, short time scale and complexity in chemical compositions. In this project, we will make use of state-of-the-art experimental technique and comprehensive numerical simulation approach to investigate microscopic dynamics during early stage phase separation. The findings may be valuable for rational design of solvent mixing process in phase separation. 

Accelerated Formation of H2 Nanobubbles from a Surface Nanodroplet Reaction

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Automated Femtoliter Droplet-Based Determination of Oil--Water Partition Coefficient

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Bouncing Oil Droplet in a Stratified Liquid and its Sudden Death

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Bouncing behaviors of an oil droplet in a stratified liquid

Xuehua Zhang

Conference Proceedings

Control of Femtoliter Liquid on a Microlens: A Way to Flexible Dual-Microlens Arrays

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Controlled addition of new liquid component into surface droplet arrays by solvent exchange

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Critical Shear Stress of Clathrate and Semiclathrate Hydrates on Solid Substrates

Nobuo Maeda, Xuehua Zhang, Yu Wei

Article in professional or trade journals

Dynamic behaviour during liquid-liquid phase separation within 2D confinement

Gilmar Friedrich Arends

Master Thesis

Encapsulated Nanodroplets for Enhanced Fluorescence Detection by Nano-Extraction

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Enhanced efficiency and thermal stability of perovskite solar cells using poly (9-vinylcarbazole) modified perovskite/PCBM interface

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Evaporation-triggered ouzo effect in a Hele-Shaw cell

Xuehua Zhang

Conference Proceedings

Formation and Stability of Cavitation Microbubbles in Process Water from the Oilsands Industry

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Formation of Polystyrene Microlenses via Transient Droplets from the Ouzo Effect for Enhanced Optical Imaging

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Gas-vapor Interplay in Plasmonic Bubble Shrinkage

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Giant and explosive plasmonic bubbles by delayed

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Hierarchical Ni@Ni(OH)2 core-shell hybrid arrays on cotton cloth fabricated by a top-down approach for high-performance flexible asymmetric supercapacitors

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

In-situ fabrication of metal oxide nanocaps based on biphasic reactions with surface nanodroplets

Hongbo Zeng, Xuehua Zhang, Jia Meng, Qiuyun Lu

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Integrated Nanoextraction and Colorimetric Reactions in Surface Nanodroplets for Combinative Analysis

Hongbo Zeng, Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Interfacial Partitioning Enhances Microextraction by Multicomponent Nanodroplets

Hongbo Zeng, Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

MSc thesis 1

Master Thesis

Marangoni puffs: dramatically enhanced dissolution of droplets with an entrapped bubble

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Microbubble-enhanced water activation by cold plasma

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Microdroplet nucleation by dissolution of a multicomponent drop in a host liquid

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Morphology of Evaporating Sessile Microdroplets on Lyophilic Elliptical Patches

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Oiling-Out Crystallization of Beta-Alanine on Solid Surfaces Controlled by Solvent Exchange

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

One-Step Nanoextraction and Ultrafast Microanalysis Based on Nanodroplet Formation in an Evaporating Ternary Liquid Microfilm

John Shaw, Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Ouzo Column under Impact: Formation of Emulsion Jet and Oil-Lubricated Droplet

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Particle Size Determines the Shape of Supraparticles in Self-Lubricating Ternary Droplets

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Physicochemical hydrodynamics of droplets out of equilibrium

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Plasmonic Bubble Nucleation and Growth in Water: Effect of Dissolved Air

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Plasmonic Nanobubbles in Armored Surface Nanodroplets

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Plasmonic Nanobubbles in “Armored” Surface Nanodroplets

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Porous supraparticle assembly through self-lubricating evaporating colloidal ouzo drops

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Primary submicron particles from early stage asphaltene precipitation revealed in situ by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in a model oil system

Xiaoli Tan, Xuehua Zhang, Jia Meng

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Self-Propelled Detachment upon Coalescence of Surface Bubbles

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Sequential Evaporation--Induced Formation of Polymeric Surface Microdents via Ouzo Effect

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Sequential droplet reactions for surface-bound gold nanocrater array

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Size distribution of primary submicron particles and larger aggregates in solvent-induced asphaltene precipitation in a model oil system

Xiaoli Tan, Xuehua Zhang, Jia Meng, Gilmar Friedrich Arends

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Solvent Exchange in a Hele--Shaw Cell: Universality of Surface Nanodroplet Nucleation

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Speeding up biphasic reactions with surface nanodroplets

Hongbo Zeng, Xuehua Zhang, Zhengxin Li

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Splitting droplets through coalescence of two different three-phase contact lines

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Surface Microlenses For Much More Efficient Photodegradation In Water Treatment

Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Pamela Chelme-Ayala, Xuehua Zhang, Jia Meng, Zuo Tong How, Qiuyun Lu

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Surface Properties of Colloidal Particles Affect Colloidal Self-Assembly in Evaporating Self-Lubricating Ternary Droplets

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Surface nanodroplets: formation, dissolution, and applications

Xuehua Zhang, Gilmar Friedrich Arends

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Synchrotron Radiation-Based FTIR Microspectroscopic Imaging of Traumatically Injured Mouse Brain Tissue Slices

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Tuning Composition of Multicomponent Surface Nanodroplets in a Continuous Flow-In System

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Ultrahigh Density of Gas Molecules Confined in Surface Nanobubbles in Ambient Water

Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Ultrasensitive Picomolar Detection of Aqueous Acids in Microscale Fluorescent Droplets

Xuehua Zhang, Hui Wang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Viscosity-Mediated Growth and Coalescence of Surface Nanodroplets

Xuehua Zhang, Jia Meng

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Water-mediated adhesion of oil sands on solid surfaces at low temperature

Qi Liu, Xuehua Zhang

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article