title: Pressure-driven flow control system for nanofluidic chemical process.
abstract: We developed a novel flow control system for a nanofluidic chemical process. Generally, flow control in nanochannels is difficult because of its high-pressure loss with very small volume flow rate. In our flow control method, liquid pressure in a microchannel connected to the nanochannels is regulated by utilizing a backpressure regulator. The flow control method was verified by using simple structured microchip, which included parallel nanochannels. We found that the observed flow rate was three times lower than the value expected from Hagen-Poiseuille's equation. That implied a size-dependent viscosity change in the nanochannels. Then, we demonstrated mixing of two different fluorescent solutions in a Y-shaped nanochannel and also a proton exchange reaction in the Y-shaped nanochannel. The flow control method will contribute to further integration of nanochemical systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hibara
authors.forename: Haeng-Boo
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokeshi
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitamori
mesh_terms: D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011312:Pressure