Microfluidic batteries and electro osmotic flows in non-polar liquids suitable for lab-on-chip applications

适用于芯片实验室应用的非极性液体中的微流体电池和电渗透流

• 批准号: 402730-2011
• 负责人: Barz, DominikPeterJohannes
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=573359
• 关键词: Microfluidic; batteries; electro; osmotic; flows

Micro devices have become an essential part of our daily life and are engaged in a multitude of technologies such as inkjet printers or smart phones. A further upcoming micro technology is the so-called Lab-on-Chip (LOC). An ideal LOC is a device that integrates a multitude of chemical/biological laboratory functions on a single chip of only few square 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 /maintenance costs, improved performance, and also less waste. However, the existing LOCs are not flexible devices as they are limited to a specific task. The current research program serves to deal with two barriers which have so far prevented the realization of universal LOCs. First, the electrical power supply of LOC components has been largely neglected. LOCs are powered by external (large) power supplies leading to several problems which compromise the advantages of a micro device. The current research program proposes the development of integrated micro batteries to solve these problems. Second, 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. Such micro pumps, however, are so far restricted to liquids such as water or alcohol, so-called polar liquids. To make crucial breakthroughs for these micro technologies it should be possible to utilize any desired liquid within such devices. Hence, the other part of the current research program investigates the manipulation of non-polar liquids, such as oil, in order to utilize them in these micro pumps. The novel technology generated will directly be adopted in the development of LOCs for medical applications. Such micro devices for portable medical diagnostics will directly benefit the Canadian healthcare system by providing patients with affordable and easy access to regular testing that can be carried out in the privacy of a home. Also, the research will assist in the expansion of `high tech' jobs in Canada through the training of highly qualified engineers/scientists.

微型设备已成为我们日常生活中必不可少的一部分，并参与了喷墨打印机或智能手机等多种技术。另一个即将到来的微型技术是所谓的芯片实验室（Lab-on-Chip，简称PLD）。理想的微控制器是在一个只有几平方厘米大小的芯片上集成多种化学/生物实验室功能的设备。典型的应用可以是确定糖尿病患者血液中的胰岛素含量。该概念具有几个优点，如降低制造/维护成本，提高性能，也减少浪费。然而，现有的LOC不是灵活的设备，因为它们限于特定的任务。目前的研究计划，以处理两个障碍，到目前为止，阻止实现通用的LOCs。首先，在很大程度上忽略了电子器件的电源。LOC由外部（大）电源供电，导致几个问题，这些问题损害了微型器件的优势。目前的研究计划提出开发集成微型电池来解决这些问题。其次，微型器件的一个显著特点是，一些物理化学现象变得突出，而这些现象在大规模器件中并不重要。这些现象可以有利地用于设计用于LOC的微型泵。然而，这种微型泵迄今为止仅限于诸如水或酒精的液体，即所谓的极性液体。为了使这些微技术取得重大突破，应该可以在这些设备中使用任何所需的液体。因此，目前研究计划的另一部分研究了非极性液体（如油）的操作，以便在这些微型泵中利用它们。所产生的新技术将直接用于开发用于医疗应用的LOC。这种用于便携式医疗诊断的微型设备将直接使加拿大的医疗保健系统受益，为患者提供负担得起的、方便的定期检测，这些检测可以在家中进行。此外，这项研究还将通过培训高素质的工程师/科学家，协助扩大加拿大的“高技术”就业机会。