Optic Imaging of Single and Two-Phase Pressure-Driven Flows in Nano-Scale Channels

Abstract

Microfluidic and nanofluidic devices have undergone rapid development in recent years. Functions integrated onto such devices provide lab-on-a-chip solutions for many biomedical, chemical, and engineering applications. In this paper, a lab-on-a-chip technique for direct visualization of the single- and two-phase pressure-driven flows in nano-scale channels was developed. The nanofluidic chip was designed and fabricated; concentration dependent fluorescence signal correlation was developed for the determination of flow rate. Experiments of single and two-phase flow in nano-scale channels with 100 nm depth were conducted. The linearity correlation between flow rate and pressure drop in nanochannels was obtained and fit closely into Poiseuille's Law. Meanwhile, three different flow patterns, single, annular, and stratified, were observed from the two-phase flow in the nanochannel experiments and their special features were described. A two-phase flow regime map for nanochannels is presented. Results are of critical importance to both fundamental study and many applications.

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Second Department

Chemistry

Keywords and Phrases

nanochannel; controlled study; correlation analysis; flow rate; fluorescence analysis; lab on a chip; nanoanalysis; nanofluidics; nanoimaging; pressure measurement

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1473-0197

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2013 Royal Society of Chemistry, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Mar 2013

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