The micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (micro-PIV) was used to measure flow velocities in micro-channels
in two passive micromixers: a microfluidic Venturi mixer and a microfluidic spiral mixer, both preceded
by standard “Y” micromixers. The micro-devices were made of borosilicate glass, with micro-engineering
techniques dedicated to micro-PIV measurements. The obtained velocity profiles show differences in the
flow structure in both cases. The micro-PIV enables understanding the micro-flow phenomena and can help
to increase reproducibility of micromixers in mass production.
Two constructions of microfluidic structures are described in this paper. A fibre optic microcell for spectrophometric measurements and a microcell for fluorescence experiments were designed and tested. The structures were made of polymer optical fibres which were incorporated into polymeric material i.e. poly(dimethylsiloxane). The structures were tested as detectors in absorbance measurement (solutions of bromothymol blue with diffierent pH were used) and in fluorescence tests (solution of fluoresceine was used).
The paper presents general information on LTCC materials, manufacturing processes and properties of fired modules. A Multichip Module package has been the main application of Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) technology. Recently, this technology is also used for production of sensors, actuators and microsystems. The research and development on the LTCC sensors and microsystems carried out in the Laboratory of Thick Film Microsystems at Wroclaw University of Technology are presented. LTCC microfluidic system is described in detail. Moreover, a short information is given on other LTCC applications .
This paper describes a new contactless conductivity detector, whose electrodes are constructed of microchannels filled with solution of KCl - called pseudoelectrodes. The lab-on-a-chip microdevice was fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) PDMS, using a moulding technique. The mould was made from a dry negative photoresist with a thickness of 50 μm. During the tests, the dimension! and arrangement of pseudoelectrodes` microchannels were evaluated. The analyte was pumped into the microchannel using a syringe pump with a flow rate of 50 μL/min. Reproducible!changes of the signal were obtained.
This mini-review reports the recent advances in the hydrodynamic techniques for formation of bubbles of gas in liquid in microfluidic systems. Systems comprising ducts that have widths of the order of 100 micrometers produce suspensions of bubbles with narrow size distributions. Certain of these systems have the ability to tune the volume fraction of the gaseous phase – over the whole range from zero to one. The rate of flow of the liquids through the devices determines the mechanism of formation of the bubbles – from break-up controlled by the rate of flow of the liquid (at low capillary numbers, and in the presence of strong confinement by the walls of the microchannels), to dynamics dominated by inertial effects (at high Weber numbers). The region of transition between these two regimes exhibits nonlinear behaviours, with period doubling cascades and irregular bubbling as prominent examples. Microfluidic systems provide new and uniquely controlled methods for generation of bubbles, and offer potential applications in micro-flow chemical processing, synthesis of materials, and fluidic optics.
The study of liquid crystalline assemblies, with an emphasis on biological phenomena, is now accessible using newly developed microdevices integrated with X-ray analysis capability. Many biological systems can be described in terms of gradients, mixing, and confinement, all of which can be mimicked with the use of appropriate microfluidic designs. The use of hydrodynamic focusing creates well-defined mixing conditions that vary depending on parameters such as device geometry, and can be quantified with finite element modelling.We describe experiments in which geometry and strain rate induce finite changes in liquid crystalline orientation. We also demonstrate the online supramolecular assembly of lipoplexes. The measurement of lipoplex orientation as a function of flow velocity allows us to record a relaxation process of the lipoplexes, as evidenced by a remarkable 4-fold azimuthal symmetry. All of these processes are accessible due to the intentional integration of design elements in the microdevices.
Investigations on integration of optoelectronic components with LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramics) microfluidic module are presented. Design, fabrication and characterization of the ceramic structure for optical absorbance is described as well. The geometry of the microfluidic channels has been designed according to results of the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis. A fabricated LTCC-based microfluidic module consists of an U-shaped microchannel, two optical fibers and integrated light source (light emitting diode) and photodetector (light-to-voltage converter). Properties of the fabricated microfluidic system have been investigated experimentally. Several concentrations of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in water were used for absorbance/transmittance measurements. The test has shown a linear detection range for various concentrations of heavy metal ions in distilled water. The fabricated microfluidic structure is found to be a very useful system in chemical analysis.