Abstract

Micro Magnetofluidics –Wireless Control for Microfluidics

Nam Trung Nguyen, Professor & Director, Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University

Microfluidics is rich in multi-physics phenomena, which offer fundamentally new capabilities in the manipulation and detection of biological particles. Most current microfluidic applications are based on hydrodynamic, electrokinetic, acoustic and optic actuation. Implementing these concepts requires bulky external pumping/valving systems and energy supplies. The required wires and connectors make their fabrication and handling difficult. Most of the conventional approaches induce heat that may affect sensitive bio particles such as cells. There is a need for a technology for fluid handling in microfluidic devices that is of low-cost, simple, wireless, free of induced heat and independent of pH level or ion concentration. The use of magnetism would provide a wireless solution for this need. Micro magnetofluidics is a newly established research field that links magnetism and microfluidics to gain new capabilities. Magnetism provides a convenient and wireless way for control and manipulation of fluid flow in the microscale. Investigation of magnetism-induced phenomena in a microfluidic device has the advantage of well-defined experimental condition such as temperature and magnetic field because of the system size. This talk presents recent interesting phenomena in both continuous-flow and digital mciro magnetofluidics.