Optics Enabled Discoveries in Nanofluids and Field-Fluid Interactions

In this talk I will give an overview of my research program's accomplishments and future directions. The Micro-Nanofluid Laboratory has three main research thrusts: micro-nanoscale imaging, nanofluid cleaning, and the interactions of strong electric fields with fluids. My micro-nanoscale imaging efforts have focused on super-resolution imagine, i.e. imaging below the diffraction limit. In this work I have applied innovative imaging optics and convolutional neural network enabled image analysis to improve both spatial and temporal resolution of super-resolution microscopy. I will also show some preliminary work demonstrating how nanofluids can impact some of the most challenging cleaning problems: small, dead-end pores. Finally, I will give an overview of our research on how strong electric fields can be used to perform molecular separations, even in charge-neutral solutes and solvents.

Dr. Snoeyink is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo. He is working on developing micro and nanoscale optical metrology techniques and utilizing them to study small-scall fluidic phenomenon. His current active research projects include utilizing convolutional neural-networks to increase precision and seeding density in 3D micro-PTV and stochastic super-resolution microscopy, active nanofluid cleaning mechanisms, and field-fluid interactions. His research has been supported by several funding agencies including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund and is the recipient of a 2024 CAREER Award from the NSF and a 2024 Early Career Research Project Award from the DOE.