Nanofluidics of Surface-Driven Liquid Flow and Its Application for Nanofabrication

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PROPOSAL NO.: CBET-0731096 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: YU, MIN-FENG INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGNNANOFLUIDICS OF SURFACE-DRIVEN LIQUID FLOW AND ITS APPLICATION FOR NANOFABRICATIONLiquid transport at the nanoscale has been one of the major topics in both experimental and theoretical studies, due to its relevance to the fundamental understanding of fluid dynamics at the nanoscale, and to the potential applications in nanofluidics devices for high sensitivity chemical sensing and biomedical studies. By taking a unique approach of utilizing high quality one-dimensional nanostructure, such as nanotube and nanowire, as the active nanoscale conveyor for liquid, this planned research is aimed to study the fundamental issues related to liquid transport at the nanoscale, and to apply the nanoscale liquid flow for nanofabrication. The intellectual merits of the research focus on the study of surface driven flow and electrokinetic flow of liquid at the nanoscale and the development of a novel nanofabrication tool: a nanowire-based electrochemical nanofabrication system. The research will concurrently exploit the novel structural properties of nanotubes and nanowires to study nanofluidics and integrate such nanotubes and nanowires for engineering new systems. The successful execution of the research is solidly supported by the PI's demonstrated research capabilities and the planned practical approaches. A nanowire-based liquid delivery system will be configured for the in-situ study of the surface tension-driven flow and the electrokinetic flow confined on the external surface of nanotube or nanowire. Such external surface-confined flow is molecularly thin, and in the case of electrokinetic flow, well within the strong interaction range of electric double layer expected to form at the nanotube/electrolyte interface. The in-situ method maximizes the effectiveness of evaluating various parameters related to the complex behavior of nanoscale external flow, such as electric potential, channel size, ion concentration, liquid property, surface property and ion type. It also facilitates the efficient optimization of parameters important for the nanowire-based electrochemical nanofabrication system. The broader impact of the planned research integrates basic research with engineering development. It introduces new methodologies for nanofluidics study to solve challenging scientific problems. The planned study has the potential to result in major advancement in the fundamental understanding of liquid flow, especially the surface tension-driven flow and the electrokinetic flow, at the nanoscale, as well as the state of the art of nanofabrication technology. The new tool, namely a nanowire-based electrochemical nanofabrication system, offers the capabilities of locally fabricating and patterning nanostructure, nanoscale interconnects or complex-structured components in ambient environment, and will find critical use in nanomanufacturing, high density electronics packaging, circuit repair and nanoprobe development applications. The planned research combines the applications of nanomaterials, materials engineering, instrumentation, electrochemistry and nanofabrication, and provides a multifaceted learning platform for the active participation and effective education of students.