Equipment for characterization of colloidal suspensions: Application to lab-on-chip and alternative energy systems development

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Micro devices have become a considerable part of our daily life and are embedded in a multitude of technologies such as inkjet printers, air bags, and smart phones. A further upcoming micro technology is the Lab-on-Chip (LOC) with its immense promise in the healthcare field. A LOC integrates several biological or chemical laboratory functions on a single chip less than a few centimetres in size. A typical application could be the determination of blood's insulin content of a diabetic person. The LOC concept features several advantages such as reduced fabrication and maintenance costs, improved performance, and also less waste. A distinguished feature of micro devices is that several physicochemical phenomena become prominent which are unimportant in large scale devices. These phenomena can be favourably employed to design micro pumps for LOCs. To make crucial breakthroughs for this micro technology it should be possible to utilize any desired liquid within such devices. The requested equipment described in this application will allow for the characterization of very small particles. This is essential to the development of LOCs relying on pumping of non-polar liquids such as oil or turpentine. The knowledge generated will directly be adopted in the development of LOCs for medical applications. Development of such micro devices for rapid, portable medical diagnostics will directly benefit to the Canadian healthcare system by providing patients an affordable, easy access to regular testing that can be carried out in privacy at home. The equipment will also be employed by co-applicants to improve the technology of fuel cells; devices that convert a fuel directly into electrical energy. Fuel Cells have considerable higher efficiencies than conventional systems based on fuel combustion and, hence, are considered green and sustainable technologies. The development of such technologies directly benefits the Canadian economy both through internal consumption and export of high-tech products. Also, the research will assist in the expansion of `high tech' jobs in Canada through the training of highly qualified engineers and scientists and encourage companies to move to or start-up in Canada.