6533b86efe1ef96bd12cbefe
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Microfluidic Pumping by Micromolar Salt Concentrations
Aidan T. BrownThomas PalbergJoost De GraafChristian HolmPatrick KreisslRan NiuDenis BotinGeorg Rempfersubject
chemistry.chemical_classificationMaterials scienceTrace AmountsMicrofluidicsFlow (psychology)Analytical chemistryFluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)Salt (chemistry)FOS: Physical sciencesPhysics - Fluid Dynamics02 engineering and technologyGeneral ChemistryCondensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter010402 general chemistry021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyCondensed Matter Physics01 natural sciences0104 chemical sciencesIonchemistrySoft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)Charge carrier0210 nano-technologydescription
An ion-exchange-resin-based microfluidic pump is introduced that utilizes trace amounts of ions to generate fluid flows. We show experimentally that our pump operates in almost deionized water for periods exceeding 24h and induces fluid flows of um/s over hundreds of um. This flow displays a far-field, power-law decay which is characteristic of two-dimensional (2D) flow when the system is strongly confined and of three-dimensional (3D) flow when it is not. Using theory and numerical calculations we demonstrate that our observations are consistent with electroosmotic pumping driven by umol/L ion concentrations in the sample cell that serve as 'fuel' to the pump. Our study thus reveals that trace amounts of charge carriers can produce surprisingly strong fluid flows; an insight that should benefit the design of a new class of microfluidic pumps that operate at very low fuel concentrations.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-01 |