期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2005
卷号:102
期号:31
页码:10813-10818
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0503287102
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Poly(dimethylsiloxane) is currently the material of choice for rapidly fabricating microfluidic devices. As the size of these devices decreases, a significant hydrodynamic flow is generated due to permeation of fluid through the channel walls. We develop a theoretical model verified by single bead tracking experiments, which demonstrates that large flow rates (>10 {micro}m/s) can be passively generated in a straight microchannel filled with water. Realizing that this flow may be unwanted in some applications, we present a method to eliminate it by inhibiting mass transfer of water into the poly(dimethylsiloxane) walls. Furthermore, we explore applications to harness this passively generated flow inside a microfluidic device such as bead stacking, chemical concentration, and passive pumping.