Thomas C. Sykes

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Warwick

Director field alignment in inkjet printed droplets of chiral nematic liquid crystalline materials is investigated using both experiments and numerical simulations. Experimental investigations are performed by depositing droplets of varying...

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) is demonstrated. Miniscule LC droplets, as small as 1 micron, are generated with the EHD printing system and deposited with high precision onto a glass substrate. Herein, we show how the voltage waveform and pulse frequency applied to the print nozzle influences the dynamics of the...

We present the results of a systematic study elucidating the role that dynamic surface tension has on the spreading and splashing dynamics of surfactant-laden droplets during the impact on hydrophobic substrates. Using four different surfactants at various concentrations, we generated a range of solutions whose dynamic surface tension were characte...

Understanding the sedimentation behavior of bidisperse colloidal suspensions is critical in determining their stability and separation. While centrifugation is often used to accelerate separation, the settling of bidisperse colloids and their phase separation under these conditions is complex and difficult to predict explicitly. As an alternative,...

When a fast droplet impacts a pool of the same fluid, a thin ejecta sheet that dominates the early-time dynamics emerges within the first few microseconds. Fluid and impact properties are known to affect its evolution; we experimentally reveal that pool depth is a critical factor too. Whilst ejecta sheets can remain separate and subsequently fold i...

Identifying facile means with which to tune the pitch of, and therefore the reflected colour from, chiral nematic liquid crystals (CLC) is of interest for many different photonics applications including optical filters, coloured displays, and mirrorless lasers. Precise control of the pitch of the helix, however, can be challenging. Here, we demonst...

This letter investigates electrophoretic molecular communication (EMC) operating in circular duct channels. EMC utilizes the time-varying electrophoretic force that can controllably induce the movement of charged particles to enhance communication performance. In circular duct channels, where the memory component is high, intersymbol interference (...

Droplets impacting dry solid substrates often splash above a certain threshold impact velocity. We hypothesise that substrate curvature alters splashing thresholds due to a modification to the lift force acting on the lamella at the point of breakup. We have undertaken high-speed imaging experiments of millimetric droplets impacting convex and conc...

Binary droplet collisions exhibit a wide range of outcomes, including coalescence and stretching separation, with a transition between these two outcomes arising for high Weber numbers and impact parameters. Our experimental study elucidates the effect of viscosity on this transition, which we show exhibits inertial (viscosity-independent) behaviou...

This article investigates a novel electrophoretic molecular communication framework that utilizes a time-varying electric field, which induces time-varying molecule velocities and in turn improves communication performance. For a sinusoidal field, we specify favorable signal parameters (e.g., phase and frequency) that yield excellent communication-...

This article investigates a novel electrophoretic molecular communication mechanism that utilizes a time-varying electric field, which induces time-varying molecule velocities and in turn improves communication performance. For a sinusoidal field, we specify favorable signal parameters (e.g., phase and frequency) that yield excellent communication...

The internal dynamics during the axisymmetric coalescence of an initially static free droplet and a sessile droplet of the same fluid are studied using both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. A high-speed camera captured internal flows from the side, visualised by adding a dye to the free droplet. The numerical simulations employ the...

The internal dynamics during the coalescence of a sessile droplet and a subsequently deposited impacting droplet, with either identical or distinct surface tension, is studied experimentally in the regime where surface tension is dominant. Two color high-speed cameras are used to capture the rapid internal flows and associated mixing from both side...

The internal dynamics during the coalescence of a sessile droplet and a subsequently deposited impacting droplet, with either identical or distinct surface tension, is studied experimentally in the regime where surface tension is dominant. Two color high-speed cameras are used to capture the rapid internal flows and associated mixing from both side...

Understanding the sedimentation behaviour of colloidal suspensions is crucial in determining their stability. Since sedimentation rates are often very slow, centrifugation is used to expedite sedimentation experiments. The effect of centrifugal acceleration on sedimentation behaviour is not fully understood. Furthermore, in sedimentation models, in...