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Concept
Nanofluidic circuitry
Résumé
Nanofluidic circuitry is a nanotechnology aiming for control of fluids in nanometer scale. Due to the effect of an electrical double layer within the fluid channel, the behavior of nanofluid is observed to be significantly different compared with its microfluidic counterparts. Its typical characteristic dimensions fall within the range of 1–100 nm. At least one dimension of the structure is in nanoscopic scale. Phenomena of fluids in nano-scale structure are discovered to be of different properties in electrochemistry and fluid dynamics.
With the development of microfabrication and nanotechnology, the study of microfluidics and nanofluidics is drawing more attention. Research on microfluidic found its advantages in DNA analysis, lab-on-a-chip, and micro-TAS. Devices in a microfluidic system include channels, valves, mixers, and pumps. Integration of these microfluidic devices enables sorting, transporting, and mixing of substances within fluids. However, the failure of moving parts in these systems is usually the critical issue and the main drawback. Mechanisms to control flow without using mechanical parts are always desired for reliability and lifetime.
In 1997, Wei, Bard and Feldberg discovered that ion rectification occurs at the tip of a nano-sized pipe. They observed that the surface charge at the wall of a nano-pipet induced a non-neutral electrical potential within the orifice. The electrical potential then modifies the concentration of ion species, resulting in an asymmetric current-voltage characteristic for the current through the pipet.
Transport of ions in the electrolyte can be adjusted by tuning the pH value in a dilute ionic solution, or by introducing an external electrical potential to change the surface charge density of the wall. As an analogy to semiconductor devices, the mechanism to control charge carrier transport in electronic devices was established in the area of nanofluidics. In nanofluidics, the active control of ion transport is realized using nano-scale channels or pores.
Source officielle
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