[Report] How boundaries shape chemical delivery in microfluidics
Thursday, December 8, 2016 - 15:11
in Physics & Chemistry
Many microfluidic systems—including chemical reaction, sample analysis, separation, chemotaxis, and drug development and injection—require control and precision of solute transport. Although concentration levels are easily specified at injection, pressure-driven transport through channels is known to spread the initial distribution, resulting in reduced concentrations downstream. Here we document an unexpected phenomenon: The channel’s cross-sectional aspect ratio alone can control the shape of the concentration profile along the channel length. Thin channels (aspect ratio