UNIT-V

Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are
geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale. Typically, micro means
one of the following features:
• small volumes (µL, nL, pL, fL)
• small size
• low energy consumption
• effects of the micro domain
Typically fluids are moved, mixed, separated or otherwise processed. Numerous applications
employ passive fluid control techniques like capillary forces. In some applications external
actuation means are additionally used for a directed transport of the media. Examples are rotary
drives applying centrifugal forces for the fluid transport on the passive chips. Active
microfluidics refers to the defined manipulation of the working fluid by active (micro)
components as micropumps or micro valves. Micro pumps supply fluids in a continuous manner
or are used for dosing. Micro valves determine the flow direction or the mode of movement of
pumped liquids. Often processes which are normally carried out in a lab are miniaturized on a
single chip in order to enhance efficiency and mobility as well as reducing sample and reagent
volumes.
It is a multidisciplinary field
intersecting engineering, physics, chemistry, microtechnology and biotechnology, with practical
applications to the design of systems in which such small volumes of fluids will be used.
Microfluidics emerged in the beginning of the 1980s and is used in the development of inkjet
printheads, DNA chips, lab-on-a-chip technology, micro-propulsion, and micro-thermal
technologies.

MICRO SCALE FLUID

The behavior of fluids at the microscale can differ from 'macrofluidic' behavior in that factors
such as surface tension, energy dissipation, and fluidic resistance start to dominate the system.
Microfluidics studies how these behaviors change, and how they can be worked around, or
exploited for new uses.
At small scales (channel diameters of around 100 nanometers to several hundredmicrometers)
some interesting and sometimes unintuitive properties appear. In particular, the Reynolds
number (which compares the effect of momentum of a fluid to the effect of viscosity) can
become very low. A key consequence of this is that fluids, when side-by-side, do not necessarily
mix in the traditional sense; molecular transport between them must often be through diffusion.
High specificity of chemical and physical properties (concentration, pH, temperature, shear
force, etc.) can also be ensured resulting in more uniform reaction conditions and higher grade
products in single and multi-step reactions.

ELECTROWETTING

The electrowetting effect has been defined as "the change in solid-electrolyte contact angle due
to an applied potential difference between the solid and the electrolyte". The phenomenon of
electrowetting can be understood in terms of the forces that result from the applied electric field.
The fringing field at the corners of the electrolyte droplet tends to pull the droplet down onto the
electrode, lowering the macroscopic contact angle and increasing the droplet contact area.
Alternatively, electrowetting can be viewed from a thermodynamic perspective. Since the
surface tension of an interface is defined as the Gibbs free energy required to create a certain
area of that surface, it contains both chemical and electrical components, and charge becomes a
significant term in that equation. The chemical component is just the natural surface tension of
the solid/electrolyte interface with no electric field. The electrical component is the energy
stored in the capacitor formed between the conductor and the electrolyte.

Electrowetting is now used in a wide range of applications from modular to adjustable lenses,
electronic displays (e-paper) and switches for optical fibers. Electrowetting has recently been
evoked for manipulating Soft Matter particularly, suppressing coffee staineffect. Furthermore,
filters with Electrowetting functionality has been suggested for cleaning oil spills and separating
oil-water mixtures.

OPTO-ELECTROWETTING (OEW)
An important trend in medical diagnostics is the miniaturization of equipment, so that in the end
a complete diagnostic test runs in a single chip. Such a “lab-on-a-chip” would enable the rapid
detection of DNA, proteins, or other biomarkers, using small volumes of bio-fluids and
reagents. An ultimate reduction in costs accompanied by an increased flexibility may be
obtained by a “digital micro-fluidics” system, in which µL-sized droplets are being
manipulated, acting both as carriers of the bio-molecules and as micro-reactors. Electrowetting
is the most studied approach to achieve this. It makes use of the effect that a droplet’s contact
angle changes when a voltage difference is being applied between the droplet and the
conductive surface on which it sits. When applying the voltage difference asymmetrically over
the droplet by using a patterned electrode structure, the droplet experiences an imbalance in
contact angle which can drive the droplet over the surface. Disadvantages of electrowetting are
the need for a patterned electrode structure and corresponding complex interface with driving
electronics, as well as the fact that the pattern puts restrictions to the droplet size. A recently
proposed technique that overcomes these disadvantages is opto-electrowetting (OEW), in which
droplets can be moved over surfaces using a scanning light beam . As sketched in Figure , a
droplet, surrounded by a host fluid, is sandwiched between two substrates. The bottom substrate
is covered with a continuous electrode, a photoconductive layer, and a dielectric film, whereas
the top substrate has just an electrode. When the photoconductive film is locally illuminated, its
resistance decreases there by orders of magnitude causing maximum voltage, applied between
the electrodes, to drop across the dielectric layer. The drop’s contact angle reduces at this spot,
creating an asymmetrical contact angle change which can drive the droplet forward.

Figure : Principle of opto-electrowetting, cross-sectional view: the droplet’s contact angle

is locally changed by laser beam illumination which drives the liquid drop to move across
the surface.
DIELECTROPHORESIS
Dielectrophoresis (or DEP) is a phenomenon in which a force is exerted on a dielectric particle
when it is subjected to a non-uniformelectric field. This force does not require the particle to
be charged. All particles exhibit dielectrophoretic activity in the presence of electric fields.
However, the strength of the force depends strongly on the medium and particles' electrical
properties, on the particles' shape and size, as well as on the frequency of the electric field.
Consequently, fields of a particular frequency can manipulate particles with great selectivity.
This has allowed, for example, the separation of cells or the orientation and manipulation of
nanoparticles and nanowires. Furthermore, a study of the change in DEP force as a function of
frequency can allow the electrical (or electrophysiological in the case of cells) properties of the
particle to be elucidated.
DEP is being applied in fields such as:
• Medical diagnostics
• Drug discovery
• Cell therapeutics
• Particle filtration
The most effort in studying DEP has been directed towards satisfying the unmet needs in the
biomedical sciences.
DEP has been applied for the separation of:
• Live and dead cells, with the remaining live cells still viable after separation
• Cancer cells from blood
• Strains of bacteria and viruses
• Red and white blood cells

THERMO CAPILLARY EFFECT

Thermocapillary effects give rise to various phenomena arising at differentially heated liquid
interfaces. These phenomena include convective flows as well as interface distortions, including
interface rupture.
Since a liquid with a high surface tension pulls more strongly on the surrounding liquid than one
with a low surface tension, the presence of a gradient in surface tension will naturally cause the
liquid to flow away from regions of low surface tension. The surface tension gradient can be
caused by concentration gradient or by a temperature gradient (surface tension is a function of
temperature).
Capillary effect appear at interfaces between a liquid and another material liquid, gas, or solid.
The interfaces give rise to a surface tension that rules the dynamics of this interface.
Creating a new interface costs a work

with the surface tension (in N/m) and the area of the interface. For water/air interface the
value of surface tension at 20°C is N/m.
This surface tension gives rise to a common phenomenon: liquid droplets tend to become
spheres in order to minimize their surface.
ELECTRO OSMOSIS FLOW
Electroosmotic flow (or electro-osmotic flow, often abbreviated EOF; synonymous
with electroosmosis or electroendosmosis) is the motion of liquid induced by an applied
potential across a porous material, capillary tube, membrane, microchannel, or any other fluid
conduit. Because electroosmotic velocities are independent of conduit size, as long as the double
layer is much smaller than the characteristic length scale of the channel, electroosmotic flow is
most significant when in small channels. Electroosmotic flow is an essential component in
chemical separation techniques, notably capillary electrophoresis. Electroosmotic flow can
occur in natural unfiltered water, as well as buffered solutions.

Electroosmotic flow is caused by the Coulomb force induced by an electric field on net
mobile electric charge in a solution. Because the chemical equilibrium between a solid surface
and an electrolyte solution typically leads to the interface acquiring a net fixed electrical charge,
a layer of mobile ions, known as an electrical double layer or Debye layer, forms in the region
near the interface. When an electric field is applied to the fluid (usually via electrodes placed at
inlets and outlets), the net charge in the electrical double layer is induced to move by the
resulting Coulomb force. The resulting flow is termed electroosmotic flow.

Electroosmotic flow is commonly used in microfluidic devices, soil analysis and

processing, and chemical analysis,[5] all of which routinely involve systems with highly charged
surfaces, often of oxides. One example is capillary electrophoresis, in which electric fields are
used to separate chemicals according to their electrophoretic mobility by applying an electric
field to a narrow capillary, usually made of silica. In electrophoretic separations, the
electroosmotic flow affects the elution time of the analytes.
It is projected that micro fluidic devices utilizing electroosmotic flow will have great application
with medical research. Once controlling this flow is better understood and implemented being
able to separate fluids on the atomic level will be a vital component for drug
dischargers. Mixing fluids at the micro scale is currently troublesome. It is believed that
electrically controlling fluids will be the method in which small fluids are mixed.

MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES
MEMS has many applications in microfluidics with many of the key building blocks such as
flow channels, pumps and valves fabricated using mature micromachining techniques. Chemical
analysis, drug delivery, biological sensing, environmental monitoring and many other
applications typically incorporate MEMS microfluidic devices. It should be noted that in MEMS
fluidic devices the type of flow (laminar or turbulent), effect of bubbles, capillary forces, fluidic
resistance and capacitance all have an effect on their final design.
i) Flow channels
A wide variety of microfluidic channels have been fabricated using bulk micromachining (wet
and dry etching), surface micromachining and moulding techniques
 Figure . Selection of MEMS channels for microfluidic applications
ii) Flow sensors
MEMS flow sensors can be fluid-dependent flow or fluid-independent. In a very basic form,
fluid-dependent flow sensors measure the flow rate by heating a fluid ‘upstream’ and then
recording its temperature ‘downstream’. The flow rate is proportional to the temperature
difference and transit time of the two actions. Fluid-independent flow sensors measure pressure
or force exerted on an object by the fluid. Figure shows an example of a MEMS bulk drag-force
flow sensor. Using a piezoresistive sensing mechanism, flow measurements are fairly linear;
direction and magnitude can be sensed by this method. In addition, fluid independent flow
sensors do not involve any form of heating and hence are more suited tobiological fluid
applications.

Figure. Micromachined mechanical (drag-force) flow sensor

iv) Pumps
Pumps are generally an important part of microfluidic devices. However, MEMS pumps are
very sensitive to fine particles which often cause contamination and leakage of the device.
Membrane, rotary and ultrasonic pumps are the most common types of MEMS pumps.
v) Rotary pumps
Figure shows the basic concept of a magnetic rotary micropump. LIGA is commonly used as a
fabrication technique for micromachined PMMA gears in MEMS microfluidic systems. These
gears can be driven for example using electroplated NiFe bars mounted on one or both of the
gears. Fluid is pumped by the action of the turning gears.

Figure. Basic concept of magnetic rotary micropump

Electrostatically actuated micropump:
● An electrostatic actuated pump in 1992.
● The pump is of square geometry with 4 mm x 4mm x 25 μm thick.
● The gap between the diaphragm and the electrode is 4 μm.
● Pumping rate is 70 μL/min at 25 Hz.

MICRO FLUID DISPENSER

Microdispensing is the technique of producing liquid media dosages in volumes of less than
one microlitre. The continuing miniaturization in almost all technical areas creates constant
challenges for industry, development and research facilities. Microdispensing is one of those
challenges. Ever smaller amounts of adhesive, liquid, oil, grease and a multitude of other media
must be dispensed reliably and accurately in dosage and placement with shortest cycle times.
Contact dispensing
In contact dispensing, the drop forms at the exit of a nozzle, and is deposited by contact, while
the drop is still on the nozzle. The technique is as old as the wish to divide a medium, stored in a
big container, into smaller amounts. A good example for this is applying adhesive with a tube:
To apply the adhesive requires contact between the tip of the tube and the part for the bead of
adhesive to be transferred. This method has disadvantages:
• Slow dispensing
• Part has to be touched
• Part could be damaged
• Adhesive forms threads
• Adhesive is not in the expected place
• Adhesive amounts are difficult to reproduce
Non-contact dispensing (Jetting)
In non-contact dispensing, the drop also forms at the end of a nozzle, but far enough away from
the target area that the drop separates from the nozzle before it hits. This, too, is a very old
technique, as old as squirting liquid from a tube.
Because of increasing requirements in regards to cycle time and accuracy in almost all areas of
production, non-contact dispensing is constantly gaining importance. A good example for this is
the attachment of very small electronic parts (SMD parts) onto printed circuit boards and
substrates. For this, the part carrier only needs to be positioned in one plane - after that the
adhesive can be transferred without contact. The following examples show the advantages of
non-contact dispensing:
 • Removal of a feed motion to the part
• Time saving through ejection of adhesive
• No contact with part (no damage)
• Even spread of adhesive topography independent of part topography and surface
structure
MICRO NEEDLE
Microinjection refers to the process of using a glass micropipette to inject a liquid substance at
a microscopic or borderline macroscopic level. The target is often a living cell but may also
include intercellular space. Microinjection is a simple mechanical process usually involving
an inverted microscope with a magnification power of around 200x (though sometimes it is
performed using a dissecting stereo microscope at 40-50x or a traditional compound upright
microscope at similar power to an inverted model).
For processes such as cellular or pronuclear injection the target cell is positioned under the
microscope and two micromanipulators one holding the pipette and one holding a
microcapillary needle usually between 0.5 to 5 microns in diameter (larger if injecting stem cells
into an embryo) are used to penetrate the cell membrane .

A microinjection controller designed byTritech Research for controlling the pressure applied to a hollow glass needle
with a microscopic tip, placed in a brass needle holder, to regulate the delivery of substances like DNA into
cells, stem cellsinto embryos, and sperm into eggs.

The use of microinjection as a biological procedure began in the early twentieth century, though
even through the 1970s it was not commonly used. By the 1990s, however, its use had escalated
significantly and it is now considered a common laboratory technique, along with vesicle
fusion, electroporation, chemical transfection, and viral transduction, for introducing a small
amount of a substance into a small target.
There are two basic types of microinjection systems. The first is called a constant flow
system and the second is called a pulsed flow system. In a constant flow system, which is
relatively simple and inexpensive though clumsy and outdated, a constant flow of a sample is
delivered from a micropipette and the amount of the sample which is injected is determined by
how long the needle remains in the cell.
A pulsed flow system, however, allows for greater control and consistency over the amount of
sample injected.Because of its increased control over needle placement and movement and in
addition to the increased precision over the volume of substance delivered, the pulsed flow
technique usually results in less damage to the receiving cell than the constant flow technique.

MOLECULAR GATE
A molecular logic gate is a molecule that performs a logical operation based on one or more
physical or chemical inputs and a single output. The field has advanced from simple logic
systems based on a single chemical or physical input to molecules capable of combinatorial and
sequential operations such as arithmetic operations i.e. moleculators and memory storage
algorithms.
For logic gates with a single input, there are four possible output patterns. When the input is 0,
the output can be either a 0 or 1. When the input is 1, the output can again be 0 or 1. The four
output bit patterns that can arise corresponds to a specific logic type: PASS 0, YES, NOT and
PASS 1. PASS 0 always outputs 0, whatever the input. PASS 1 always outputs 1, whatever the
input. YES outputs a 1 when the input is 1 and NOT is the inverse YES - it outputs a 0 when the
input is 1. An example of a YES logic gate is the molecular structure shown below. A ‘1’ output
is given only when sodium ions are present in solution (‘1’ input).

Fluidics, or fluidic logic, is the use of a fluid to perform analog or digital operations similar to
those performed with electronics. The physical basis of fluidics is pneumatics and hydraulics,
based on the theoretical foundation of fluid dynamics. The term fluidics is normally used when
devices have no moving parts, so ordinary hydraulic components such as hydraulic
cylinders and spool valves are not considered or referred to as fluidic devices. The 1960s saw
the application of fluidics to sophisticated control systems, with the introduction of the fluidic
amplifier.
A jet of fluid can be deflected by a weaker jet striking it at the side. This
provides nonlinear amplification, similar to the transistor used in electronic digital logic. It is
used mostly in environments where electronic digital logic would be unreliable, as in systems
exposed to high levels of electromagnetic interference or ionizing radiation.