The past decade has seen a significant increase in the number of reported applications of microfluidic analysis systems, and it is important to recognize the difference in flow behavior on the microscale.  This work describes two of the most important considerations in microscale flow, laminar flow and electroosmotic flow (EOF).  Laminar flow, which features non-turbulent flow of adjacent fluid streams, is the result of the low Reynolds numbers associated with flow in microchannels having sub-millimeter dimensions.  EOF, which enables bulk flow of solution in response to an applied electric field, is dependent upon the interaction of ions in a buffer solution with surface charge on the walls of the microchannel.  Both of these phenomena are described in the context of micofluidic systems, with data presented using microchannels fabricated in glass, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), and glass-PDMS hybrid devices.

Flow behavior in microfluidic devices

244th National Meeting (2012)

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