Stability and performance of chemically modified capillary tubes subjected to an external electrical field

微生物的检测和鉴定在医疗/制药和食品加工应用中至关重要。传统的检测方法需要漫长的培养过程。此外，处于休眠状态的病原菌不能培养，通常处于极低的种群中。这对现有技术提出了巨大的挑战，而ECICICTICS的高分辨率检测和颗粒分离系统旨在解决这一日益重要的应用。在毛细管内层流流场中分离生物颗粒的过程中，由于毛细管内表面与颗粒之间的相互作用，外加电场可以极大地提高分离效率。颗粒分离系统的设计涉及深入了解毛细管及其包衣材料的化学稳定性。在这项合作中，我们建议研究化学修饰的毛细管在外部电场下的稳定性和性能。

Detection and identification of microbes are crucial in medical/pharmaceutical and food processing applications. Conventional detection methods involve a lengthy culture process. In addition, pathogen in dormant state cannot be cultured and are typically in extreme low population. This imposes an immense challenge to the existing technologies, and Ecmictics' high resolution detection and particle separation system aims to address this increasingly important application. In the process of separating bio-particles in a laminar flow field inside a capillary, applying an external electrical field might tremendously enhance the efficiency due to the interaction between the capillary inner surface and the particle. The design of the particle separation system involves in-depth understanding of chemical stability of the capillary and its coating material. In this collaboration, we are proposing to investigate the stability and performance of chemically modified capillary tubes under an external electrical field.