I-Corps: Microfluidic device for investigation of mineral/liquid interactions

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力源于矿物在我们社会中发挥的重要性。对于日益增长的世界人口来说，能源和粮食安全取决于我们对页岩和磷灰石等复杂矿物的理解。混凝土、煤炭和土壤等关键材料都含有一种关键的矿物成分。整个采矿业都取得了进展，但原料质量的下降和环境问题要求该行业进行创新。例如，矿物反应性的分析测试仍然依赖于传统的湿化学仪器(例如烧杯和容量烧瓶)，这不允许准确了解杂质和辅助成分的行为。这类杂质通常决定加工材料的性能。由于实验室检测服务市场在美国占71亿美元，因此分析设备的商业开发显然是一个机会，可以显著提高实验数据的准确性，最大限度地减少成本和环境足迹。这个i-Corps项目专注于开发一种微流控设备，在矿物样品的表面执行化学反应。该设备将岩相学和湿化学分析结合在一个平台上，将矿物/液体调查的分辨率提高到微米级。最初，这项研究是为了研究农业养分从硅酸盐矿物释放到土壤中自然形成的孔隙中的情况。已经证明，在微尺度上，这种释放的速度比之前认为的要快。随后，验证了该技术在石油天然气和采矿行业高通量地质样品筛选中的潜力。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project originates from the importance that minerals plays in our society. Energy and food security for a growing world population depend on improving our understanding of complex minerals such as shales and apatites. Key materials as different as concrete, coal and soil, all feature a key mineral component. Progress has occurred throughout the mineral industry, but decreasing quality of feedstocks and environmental concerns call for innovation in the sector. As an example, analytical testing of minerals reactivity still relies on traditional wet chemistry apparatus (e.g., beaker and volumetric flasks), which do not allow an accurate understanding of impurities and accessory components behavior. Such impurities often determine the performance of the processed material. Since the market of laboratory testing services accounts for US$7.1bn in the US, there is an evident opportunity for commercial development of analytical devices that can significantly improve accuracy of experimental data, minimize cost and environmental footprints.This I-Corps project focuses on the development of a microfluidic device to perform chemical reactions on surfaces of mineral samples. The device combines in one single platform both petrographic and wet chemistry analysis, and enhances the resolution of mineral/liquid investigations to the micrometer scale. Originally, the research was developed to study the release of agricultural nutrients from silicate minerals to the pores that occur naturally in soil. It was demonstrated that at the microscale the rate at which such release occurs is faster than previously thought. Subsequently, the potential of the technology for high throughput screening of geological samples for the oil and gas and mining industries was validated.