Magentohydrodynamics and of Magnetic Field Effects for Microfluidics: Fundamental and Applications
We have developed a new method for stirring on a picoliter scale, moving solutions from one site to another on a chip for processing, and forcing solvent through channels to carry out separations of mixtures. It involves applying a phenomenon, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), that is better known in the astrophysics of plasmas and liquid metal pumping than it is in analytical chemistry. MHD involves three physical fields that are at right angles to each other: electric, magnetic, and flow. Application of an electric and magnetic field in small channels or microscopic reactor or sensor vessels containing aqueous or non-aqueous solution results in controlled flow or stirring. We are investigating the fundamental properties of MHD and how MHD may be used in a wide variety of analytical chemistry applications to enhance sensitivity, detection limits, provide fast reactions, and carry out complete sample manipulation, separation, and detection on an ultrasmall volume scale.
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