COST P21 "The physics of droplets"

During the last five years, microfluidic technology has emerged. The applications are very fruitful in many domains: biotechnology, food science, reprographics, microelectronics and nanoscience, cleaning, cooling, tribology etc. The ‘lab-on-a-chip’ philosophy is given as the highest achievement that should be reached in that field of physics. A droplet of liquid is the smallest fluid entity that a microfluidic physicist has to deal with. A droplet may be considered as a fluid transport cell or even as a chemical micro-reactor. The shape and volume of the droplet have to be carefully controlled. The underlying physics is still to be discovered; volume and surface effects have the same order of importance. Basically, the internal and the surrounding micro-flows have to be well understood. This COST Action will tackle the problem by studying the droplet at the microscopic level. Both theoretical and experimental work will be performed through this Action. At the end of the Action, a theory describing the physics of the droplet will be formulated. Furthermore the collaborations will allow the development of efficient tools to create, transport, stock and transform (mixing, reacting) liquid droplets in a controlled way. Moreover the contacts made with industry will allow better responses to the technological challenge.