Necmettin Cevheri

Evanescent-Wave Particle Velocimetry Studies of Electrokinetically Driven Flows: Divalent Counterion Effects

Characterizing the mainly incompressible and laminar flows of aqueous electrolyte solutions through channels with an overall dimension of O(1–100 μm) is of interest in a variety of microfluidics applications. Solid surfaces such as the channel wall become (usually negatively) charged due to direct ionization or dissociation of surface groups, where the charge is typically characterized by the wall zeta-potential ζw. The surface in turn attracts mobile counterions from the fluid to form a (usually positively) charged screening, or electric double, layer (EDL).An external electric field can therefore be used to “pump” fluids through microfluidic Labs-on-a-Chip (LOC) by driving the charged fluid in the EDL. The resulting electroosmotic flow (EOF) is uniform outside the EDL, which has a thickness less than 50 nm in most cases. This uniform flow results in a more favorable scaling of the volume flowrate with channel diameter for microchannels, and also has less convective dispersion than shear flows. Electroosmotic flow is, however, very sensitive to changes in ζw. Various studies have shown, for example, that adding multivalent counterions to a monovalent electrolyte solution can greatly change ζw through both electrostatic and chemical interactions, even leading to “charge inversion” where the zeta-potential changes its sign.Evanescent-wave particle velocimetry, which tracks the motion of colloidal fluorescent tracer particles illuminated by evanescent waves within ∼400 nm of the wall, was therefore used to study the flow of various aqueous monovalent electrolyte solutions with small amounts of divalent cations such as Mg++ driven by an electric field through channels with a minimum dimension of ∼30 μm. The technique measures both the velocity components parallel to the wall and the steady-state distribution of these near-wall tracers. In these experiments, the tracers are convected parallel to the wall by both the EOF and directly by the applied electric field via electrophoresis because the surfaces of the particles also become negatively charged when suspended in the electrolyte solution. The electrophoretic contribution to the measured particle velocity was determined by measuring the particle zeta-potential with light scattering, and subtracted from the particle velocity to determine the actual EOF velocity.Copyright

Lift Forces on Colloidal Particles in Combined Electroosmotic and Poiseuille Flow

Colloidal particles suspended in aqueous electrolyte solutions flowing through microchannels are subject to lift forces that repel the particles from the wall due to the voltage and pressure gradients commonly used to drive flows in microfluidic devices. There are very few studies that have considered particles subject to both an electric field and a pressure gradient, however. Evanescent-wave particle tracking velocimetry was therefore used to investigate the near-wall dynamics of a dilute suspension of 245 nm radius polystyrene particles in a monovalent electrolyte solution in Poiseuille and combined electroosmotic (EO) and Poiseuille flow through 30-μm-deep fused-silica channels. The lift force observed in Poiseuille flow, which is estimated from the near-wall particle distribution, appears to be proportional to the shear rate, a scaling consistent with hydrodynamic lift forces previously reported in field-flow fractionation studies. The estimates of the lift force observed in combined flow suggest that the force magnitude exceeds the sum of the lift forces observed in EO flow at the same electric field or in Poiseuille flow at the same shear rate. Moreover, the force magnitude appears to be proportional to the electric field magnitude and have a power law dependence on the shear rate with an exponent between 0.4 and 0.5. This unexpected scaling suggests that the repulsive lift force observed in combined electroosmotic and Poiseuille flow is a new phenomenon, distinct from previously reported electroviscous, hydrodynamic lift, or dielectrophoretic-like forces, and warrants further study.

Using Shear and Direct Current Electric Fields to Manipulate and Self-Assemble Dielectric Particles on Microchannel Walls

Manipulating suspended neutrally buoyant colloidal particles of radii a = O(0.1 μm–1 μm) near solid surfaces, or walls, is a key technology in various microfluidics devices. These particles, suspended in an aqueous solution at rest near a solid surface, or wall, are subject to wall-normal “lift” forces described by the DLVO theory of colloid science. The particles experience additional lift forces, however, when suspended in a flowing solution. A fundamental understanding of such lift forces could therefore lead to new methods for the transport and self-assembly of particles near and on solid surfaces.Various studies have reported repulsive electroviscous and hydrodynamic lift forces on colloidal particles in Poiseuille flow (with a constant shear rate γ near the wall) driven by a pressure gradient. A few studies have also observed repulsive dielectrophoretic-like lift forces in electroosmotic (EO) flows driven by electric fields.Recently, evanescent-wave particle tracking has been used to quantify near-wall lift forces on a = 125 nm–245 nm polystyrene (PS) particles suspended in a monovalent electrolyte solution in EO flow, Poiseuille flow, and combined Poiseuille and EO flow through ∼30 μm deep fused-silica channels. In Poiseuille flow, the repulsive lift force appears to be proportional to γ, a scaling consistent with hydrodynamic, vs. electroviscous, lift.In combined Poiseuille and EO flow, the lift forces can be repulsive or attractive, depending upon whether the EO flow is in the same or opposite direction as the Poiseuille flow, respectively. The magnitude of the force appears to be proportional to the electric field magnitude. Moreover, the force in combined flow exceeds the sum of the forces observed in EO flow for the same electric field or in Poiseuille flow for the same γ. Initial results also imply that this force, when repulsive, scales as γ1/2. These results suggest that the lift force in combined flow is fundamentally different from electroviscous, hydrodynamic, or dielectrophoretic-like lift.Moreover, for the case when the EO flow opposes the Poiseuille flow, the particles self-assemble into dense stable periodic streamwise bands with an average width of ∼6 μm and a spacing of 2–4 times the band width when the electric field magnitude exceeds a threshold value. These results are described and reviewed here.Copyright

Using Shear and DC Electric Fields to Manipulate and Self-Assemble Dielectric Particles on Microchannel Walls

Manipulating suspended neutrally buoyant colloidal particles of radii a = O(0.1 μm–1 μm) near solid surfaces, or walls, is a key technology in various microfluidics devices. These particles, suspended in an aqueous solution at rest near a solid surface, or wall, are subject to wall-normal “lift” forces described by the DLVO theory of colloid science. The particles experience additional lift forces, however, when suspended in a flowing solution. A fundamental understanding of such lift forces could therefore lead to new methods for the transport and self-assembly of particles near and on solid surfaces.Various studies have reported repulsive electroviscous and hydrodynamic lift forces on colloidal particles in Poiseuille flow (with a constant shear rate γ near the wall) driven by a pressure gradient. A few studies have also observed repulsive dielectrophoretic-like lift forces in electroosmotic (EO) flows driven by electric fields.Recently, evanescent-wave particle tracking has been used to quantify near-wall lift forces on a = 125 nm–245 nm polystyrene (PS) particles suspended in a monovalent electrolyte solution in EO flow, Poiseuille flow, and combined Poiseuille and EO flow through ∼30 μm deep fused-silica channels. In Poiseuille flow, the repulsive lift force appears to be proportional to γ, a scaling consistent with hydrodynamic, vs. electroviscous, lift.In combined Poiseuille and EO flow, the lift forces can be repulsive or attractive, depending upon whether the EO flow is in the same or opposite direction as the Poiseuille flow, respectively. The magnitude of the force appears to be proportional to the electric field magnitude. Moreover, the force in combined flow exceeds the sum of the forces observed in EO flow for the same electric field or in Poiseuille flow for the same γ. Initial results also imply that this force, when repulsive, scales as γ1/2. These results suggest that the lift force in combined flow is fundamentally different from electroviscous, hydrodynamic, or dielectrophoretic-like lift.Moreover, for the case when the EO flow opposes the Poiseuille flow, the particles self-assemble into dense stable periodic streamwise bands with an average width of ∼6 μm and a spacing of 2–4 times the band width when the electric field magnitude exceeds a threshold value. These results are described and reviewed here.Copyright

Fluorescent carbon by covalently attaching a BODIPY fluorophore

This work reports the preparation and characterization of fluorescent carbon particles by covalently attaching a BODIPY fluorophore and demonstrates the feasibility of using the fluorescent carbon particles for visualization in micro/nanofluidics.

Evanescent-wave particle velocimetry measurements of zeta-potentials in fused-silica microchannels.

The wall ζ‐potential ζw, the potential at the shear plane of the electric double layer, depends on the properties of the BGE solution such as the valence and type of electrolyte, the pH and the ionic strength. Most of the methods estimate ζw from measurements of the EOF velocity magnitude ueo, usually spatially averaged over the entire capillary. In these initial studies, evanescent‐wave particle velocimetry was used to measure ueo in steady EOF for a variety of monovalent aqueous solutions to evaluate the effect of small amounts of divalent cations, as well as the pH and ionic strength of BGE solutions. In brief, the magnitude of the EOF velocity of NaCl‐NaOH and borate buffer‐NaOH solutions was estimated from the measured velocities of radius α = 104 nm fluorescent polystyrene particles in 33 μm fused‐silica microchannels. The particle ζ‐potentials were measured separately using laser‐Doppler micro‐electrophoresis; ζw was then determined from ueo. The results suggest that evanescent‐wave particle velocimetry can be used to estimate ζw for a variety of BGE solutions, and that it can be used in the future to estimate local wall ζ‐potential, and hence spatial variations in ζw.