Improved rates of mass transfer to sensor surfaces with chaotic microfluidic flows

ANYL 117

Abraham D Stroock, ads10@cornell.edu1, Joseph D. Kirtland2, and Gregory J. McGraw, gmcgraw@umich.edu1. (1) School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, 120 Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, (2) Department of Physics, Cornell University, 120 Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
The transfer of analyte from solution to a solid surface is frequently the rate limiting step in the operation of sensors. Biosensors based on surface binding, as in ELISA and DNA-chips, are particularly prone to transport limitations due to the low diffusivity of the analytes and the small volumes of solutions. Flow of the analyte solution is commonly employed to mitigate these limitations, but little work has been done on the optimization of these flows. We will report on our development of a general purpose microfluidic system to create chaotic flows adjacent to binding surfaces. We will describe results from theory and simulation that lead us to general predictions of the rate of mass transfer as a function of the parameters of the flow. We will then present quantitative experimental results that confirm these predictions. Finally, we will discuss application of these predictions and experimental methods to specific sensor technologies.
 

General Papers
7:00 PM-9:00 PM, Sunday, 10 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Poster

Division of Analytical Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006