title: Flow reduction in microchannels coated with a polymer brush.
abstract: We report on the design of microchannels made of glass capillary coated with polymer brushes elaborated by the so-called "grafting-from" technique. We present measurements of velocity profiles for pressure-driven flows of water in such "hairy" capillaries. We show that the flow reduction induced by the presence of the brush is unexpectedly greater than what could be anticipated from simple geometric arguments on the reduction of the effective capillary diameter or from predictions by models describing the brush layer as a poro-elastic boundary.
authors.affiliation: University of Grenoble 1/CNRS, LIPhy UMR 5588, BP 87, 38041 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lanotte
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guido
authors.forename: Chaouqi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Misbah
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peyla
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bureau
mesh_terms: D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011312:Pressure; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D014867:Water