Wayne Francis

CHAPTER 9:Applications of Ionic Liquid Materials in Microfluidic Devices

“Lab-on-a-chip” (LOC) and microfluidics enable the manipulation of fluids at small length scales (from micrometers to millimeters). These systems often have well-defined fabrication processes and are capable of integrating multiple functional elements, to provide complete sample-in/answer-out systems. Nevertheless, the development of fully integrated microfluidic devices still faces some considerable obstacles, including fluidic control, miniaturisation and high costs. Due to their unique properties, ionic liquids have arisen as smart solutions to circumvent some of the hurdles facing current LOC technologies. They can directly benefit microfluidic devices by aiding miniaturised fabrication and passive microfluidic elements for fluid control, sensing and sample storage. Improved chemical reactions and separation, in addition to power generation, temperature control, and electrowetting show potential for reducing manufacturing costs and widening market possibilities. In this chapter we will review and discuss the fundamental applications of ionic liquids within microfluidic systems.

Stimuli-Controlled Manipulation of Synthetic Micrometre-Sized Vehicles for Bio-Inspired Fluidics

Controlled movement in fluids is essential to the function of living systems. The desire of [...]

Stimuli-controlled fluid control and microvehicle movement in microfluidic channels

Integration of stimuli-responsive materials into microfluidic systems provides a means to locally manipulate flow at the microscale, in a noninvasive manner, while also reducing system complexity. In recent years, several modes of stimulation have been applied, including electrical, magnetic, light and temperature, among others. To achieve remote control of flow in microfluidics using external stimulation, two main approaches have emerged in the recent years: