Thermal control of ionic transport and fluid flow in nanofluidic channels.
In this work, we report a nanofluidic gating mechanism that uses the thermal effect for modulating the ionic transport inside nanofluidic channels. The control of the ionic transport inside a nanochannel is demonstrated using electrical conductivity. A thermal gate controls the ionic transport more effectively than most of the other gating mechanisms previously described in the scientific literature. Gating in both bulk and overlapping electric double layer regimes can be obtained. The relatively short response time of opening and closing processes makes it a good candidate for manipulating small molecules in micro- and nanoscale devices.
Microsystems Laboratory, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL STI-IMT-LMIS, Station 17, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. mojtaba.taghipoor@epfl.ch.
Mojtaba
M
Taghipoor
Arnaud
A
Bertsch
Philippe
P
Renaud