Catalytic micropumps: microscopic convective fluid flow and pattern formation.
As innovations continue to be made in the fields of microfluidics and the colloidal assembly, new strategies for moving particles and fluids may be needed. Heterogeneous catalysis provides means of locally converting the stored chemical energy of fuels to mechanical energy. We report an ambient temperature stationary "pump" that generates a proton concentration gradient through the bipolar electrochemical decomposition of hydrogen peroxide on patterned silver-gold surfaces. The resulting electric field drives convective fluid flow and pattern formation of colloidal tracer particles at the microscopic level by a combination of electroosmotic and electrophoretic forces.
Kline
Timothy R
TR
Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscale Science, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
Paxton
Walter F
WF
Wang
Yang
Y
Velegol
Darrell
D
Mallouk
Thomas E
TE
Sen
Ayusman
A