Bidirectional actuation of ferrofluid using micropatterned planar coils assisted by bias magnetic fields

This paper reports a ferrofluid control method that enables both attraction and repelling of ferrofluid on micropatterned planar coils coupled with permanent magnets. A combinational use of a controlled magnetic field and a bias field is shown to provide lateral forces that attract/repel the ferrofluid to/from the coil depending on the direction of the current passed through the coil. Active mirror devices whose mirrors are switched by ferrofluids are developed as a proof-of-concept of the actuation method toward the application to imaging devices and optical switches. The planar devices lithographically fabricated to have arrays of mirror-coil cells are used to demonstrate activation/deactivation of individual cells enabled by the bidirectional radial motion of the ferrofluid layer with ∼100 μm thickness. The static and dynamic behaviors of the ferrofluid in the devices are characterized through an image processing approach. Multiple mirror cells are selectively and simultaneously operated to show enhanced ferrofluid control uniquely available with the two modes of the actuation as well as to demonstrate pattern generation with the arrays.     

A ferrofluidic magnetic micropump

A microfluidic pump is described that uses magnetic actuation to push fluid through a microchannel. Operation relies on the use of magnetically-actuated plugs of ferrofluid, a suspension of nanosize ferromagnetic particles. The ferrofluid contacts but is immiscible with the pumped fluid. The prototype circular design demonstrates continuous pumping by regenerating a translating ferrofluidic plug at the conclusion of each pumping cycle. The flow rate can be controlled by adjusting device dimensions or the velocity of an external permanent magnet that directs the motion of the ferrofluid. The ferrofluidic plugs also serve as valves; if the magnetic actuator is stopped, pressure can be maintained with no power consumption. Flow can also be reversed by switching the direction of actuation. The maximum flow rate achieved with minimal backpressure was 45.8 μl/min. The maximum pressure head achieved was 135 mm water (1.2 kPa)     

Electrokinetic instabilities in co-flowing ferrofluid and buffer solutions with matched electric conductivities

Electrokinetic instabilities have been extensively studied in microchannel fluid flows with conductivity or conductivity and permittivity gradients for various microfluidic applications. This work presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the electrokinetic co-flow of ferrofluid and buffer solutions with matched electric conductivities. We find that the ferrofluid and buffer interface becomes unstable with periodic waves if the applied direct-current electric field reaches a threshold value. We develop a two-dimensional numerical model to seek a preliminary understanding of such an electrically originated flow instability. Our model indicates that the observed phenomenon is not a consequence of the electric body force acting on the permittivity gradients between the ferrofluid and buffer solutions. It is instead attributed to the diffusion-induced conductivity gradients that are formed at the ferrofluid and buffer interface due to the mismatching diffusivities of ferrofluid nanoparticles and buffer ions.     

Temperature sensor using ferrofluid thin film

A brand new design of temperature sensor using ferrofluid thin film is proposed in this paper. When magnetic field parallel to the plane of the ferrofluid thin film is applied, magnetic chains form in the same direction of the magnetic field, which results in the suppressing of optical transmission. It is observed that the optical transmission is changed by the ambient temperature, so that temperature sensor can be constructed by measuring the transmission power of a laser. The physics and the sensitivity of the temperature sensor are also analyzed.     

Modeling of ferrofluid magnetic actuation with dynamic magnetic fields in small channels

One of the most important and promising research areas in biomedical and micropumping applications is magnetic actuation of ferrofluids with dynamic magnetic fields. For ensuring the use of ferrofluids in various applications in engineering fields, their flows generated by magnetic fields should be extensively investigated and simulated. In this study, simulations of ferrofluid actuation with dynamic magnetic fields were performed by modeling it using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, and iron oxide nanoparticle-based ferrofluids at different angles of rotating magnets were considered to provide insight into ferrofluid flow in small channels. Ferrofluid flows were modeled at different magnetic flux densities provided by rotating magnets, and velocity profiles inside the channel were analyzed. It was shown that ferrofluid actuation can be considered as a futuristic micropumping alternative, simulation results matched well with the experimental results of previous work, and the established model could serve as a tool to analyze ferrofluid flows generated by dynamic magnetic fields. The results of the model show that flow rates up to 100 µl/s can be reached at a rotation angle of 30° by using dynamic magnetic fields. Various applications including biomedical applications might be envisaged.     

基于铁磁性液体的微差压传感器研究

差压是一种重要的力学参数,为了提高差压的测量精度,应用新型纳米材料--磁性液体设计了一种微差压传感器,建立了传感器的理论模型并对其输入输出关系进行了理论推导.该传感器采用螺线管式差动变压器的工作原理,其核心部分是可变互感,利用磁性液体兼具磁性和流动性的特点实现微差压的测量.实验表明,该种磁性液体微差压传感器具有工作压力范围大、线性度好、灵敏度高、稳定可靠等优点,可以广泛应用于工业过程控制、机械制造、生物医学工程等许多领域.     

Kinematics and deformation of ferrofluid droplets under magnetic actuation

This paper reports the experimental results on kinematics and deformation of ferrofluid droplets driven by planar coils. Ferrofluid droplets act as liquid magnets, which can be controlled and manipulated by an external magnetic field. In our experiments, the magnetic field was generated by two pairs of planar coils, which were fabricated on a double-sided printed circuit board. The first pair of coils constrains the ferrofluid droplet to a one-dimensional motion. The second pair generates the magnetic gradient needed for the droplet motion. The direction of the motion can be controlled by changing the sign of the gradient or of the driving current. Kinematic characteristics of the droplet such as the velocity–position diagram and the aspect ratio of the droplet are investigated. The analysis and discussion are based on the different parameters such as the droplet size, the viscosity of the surrounding medium, and the driving current. This simple actuation concept would allow the implementation of lab-on-a-chip platforms based on ferrofluid droplets.     

Diamagnetic particle focusing using ferromicrofluidics with a single magnet

Focusing particles into a tight stream is critical to many applications such as microfluidic flow cytometry and particle sorting. Current magnetic field-induced particle focusing techniques rely on the use of a pair of repulsive magnets, which makes the device integration and operation difficult. We develop herein a new approach to focusing nonmagnetic particles in ferrofluid flow through a T-microchannel using a single permanent magnet. Particles are deflected across the suspending ferrofluid by negative magnetophoresis and confined by a water flow to the center plane of the microchannel, leading to a focused particle stream flowing near the bottom channel wall. Such three-dimensional diamagnetic particle focusing is demonstrated in a sufficiently diluted ferrofluid through both the top and side views of the microchannel. As the suspended particles can be visualized in bright field, this magnetic focusing method is expected to find applications to label-free (i.e., no magnetic or fluorescent labeling) cellular focusing in lab-on-a-chip devices.     

Capillary filling speed of ferrofluid in hydrophilic microscope slide nanochannels

The capillary filling speed of ferrofluid in hydrophilic nanofluidic channels is investigated under various temperature and constant magnetic field conditions. Nanochannels with depths ranging from 50 to 150 nm and widths of 30 to 200 μm are fabricated on borosilicate glass substrates using buffered oxide wet etching and glass–glass fusion bonding techniques. The capillary filling speed of the ferrofluid is measured experimentally and compared with the theoretical results predicted by the classical Washburn equation. It is found that the experimental filling speed is significantly slower than the theoretical filling speed due to the erroneous assumption in the Washburn model of a constant contact angle irrespective of the flow rate and the presence of flow obstructions. The experimental results show that the filling speed reduces with a reducing channel depth, an increasing ferrofluid concentration, a lower operating temperature and an increased filling length. However, the filling speed is enhanced in the presence of an external magnetic field.     

Magnetofluidic spreading in microchannels

We investigate the spreading phenomena caused by the interaction between a uniform magnetic field and a magnetic fluid in microchannels. The flow system consists of two liquids: a ferrofluid and a mineral oil. The ferrofluid consists of superparamagnetic nanoparticles suspended in an oil-based carrier. Under a uniform magnetic field, the superparamagnetic particles are polarized and represent magnetic dipoles. The magnetization of the magnetic nanoparticles leads to a force resulting in the change of diffusion behavior inside the microchannel. Mixing due to secondary flow close to the interface also contributes to the spreading of the ferrofluid. The magnetic force acting on the liquid/liquid interface is caused by the mismatch of magnetization between the nanoparticles and surrounding liquid in a multiphase flow system. This paper examines the roles of magnetic force in the observed spreading phenomena. The effect of particles on the flow field is also considered. These phenomena would allow simple wireless control of a microfluidic system without changing the flow rates. These phenomena can potentially be used for focusing and sorting in cytometry.     

Performance of an adaptive liquid microlens controlled by a microcoil actuator

We present an optofluidic system based on electromagnetic manipulation of a ferrofluid to tune a liquid lens. Both studies of the dynamics of fluid transport and of the optical properties of the liquid lens have been carried out. Thermal and magnetic field simulations of the microcoil actuators are presented. Proof-of-principle experiments demonstrating the adaption of the focal length of the lens have been carried out. It is shown that the lens adaption proceeds in a reversible and reproducible manner, given that the ferrofluid plug moves with a speed below a specific threshold value. Furthermore, the time delay between the actuation and the deflection of the lens surface is studied.     

Inertially focused diamagnetic particle separation in ferrofluids

Continuous flow separation of target particles from a mixture is essential to many chemical and biomedical applications. There has recently been an increasing interest in the integration of active and passive particle separation techniques for enhanced sensitivity and flexibility. We demonstrate herein the proof-of-concept of a ferrofluid-based hybrid microfluidic technique that combines passive inertial focusing with active magnetic deflection to separate diamagnetic particles by size. The two operations take place in series in a continuous flow through a straight rectangular microchannel with a nearby permanent magnet. We also develop a three-dimensional numerical model to simulate the transport of diamagnetic particles during their inertial focusing and magnetic separation processes in the entire microchannel. The predicted particle trajectories are found to be approximately consistent with the experimental observations at different ferrofluid flow rates and ferrofluid concentrations.     

Ferrofluid transformer-based tilt sensor

Microsystem Technologies - This paper investigates utilizing ferrofluid in a novel design for a tilt sensor. Ferrofluid is becoming widely used in various fields such as sealing, heat transfer and...     

Magnetic concentration of particles and cells in ferrofluid flow through a straight microchannel using attracting magnets

Concentrating particles to a detectable level is often necessary in many applications. Although magnetic force has long been used to enrich magnetic (or magnetically tagged) particles in suspensions, magnetic concentration of diamagnetic particles is relatively new and little reported. We demonstrate in this work a simple magnetic technique to concentrate polystyrene particles and live yeast cells in ferrofluid flow through a straight rectangular microchannel using negative magnetophoresis. The magnetic field gradient is created by two attracting permanent magnets that are placed on the top and bottom of the planar microfluidic device and held in position by their natural attractive force. The magnet–magnet distance is mainly controlled by the thickness of the device substrate and can be made small, allowing for the use of a dilute ferrofluid in the developed magnetic concentration technique. This advantage not only enables a magnetic/fluorescent label-free handling of diamagnetic particles, but also renders such handling biocompatible.     

Plastic micropump with ferrofluidic actuation

We present the realization and characterization of a new type of plastic micropump based on the magnetic actuation of a magnetic liquid. The pump consists of two serial check-valves that convert the periodic motion of a ferrofluidic plug into a pulsed quasi-continuous flow. The ferrofluid is actuated by the mechanical motion of an external NdFeB permanent magnet. The water-based ferrofluid is synthesized in-house using a coprecipitation method and has a saturation magnetization of 32 mT. The micropump consists of various layers of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), which are microstructured by powder blasting or by standard mechanical micromachining techniques, and are assembled in a single plastic structure using a monomer gluing solution. Two soft silicone membranes are integrated in the microfluidic structure to form two check-valves. Water has been successfully pumped at flow rates of up to 30 /spl mu/L/min and pumping is achieved at backpressures of up to 25 mbar.     

Numerical and experimental investigations of the formation process of ferrofluid droplets

This paper reports both experimental and numerical investigations of the formation process of ferrofluid droplets in a flow focusing configuration with and without an applied magnetic field. In the experiment, the homogenous magnetic field was generated using an electromagnet. The magnetic field in the flow direction affects the formation process and changes the size of the droplets. The change in the droplet size depends on the magnetic field strength and the flow rates. A numerical model was used to investigate the force balance during the droplet breakup process. A linearly magnetizable fluid was assumed. Particle level set method was employed to capture the interface movement between the continuous fluid and the dispersed fluid. Results of the droplet formation process and the flow field are discussed for both cases with and without the magnetic field. Finally, experimental and numerical results are compared.     

Microsecond-scale switching time of magnetic fluids due to the optical trapping effect in waveguide structure

Instead of the conventional method of monitoring the transmitted light through a ferrofluid film, in this study we use ferrofluids as the guiding layer in a double metal-cladding optical waveguide structure, and measure the reflected light intensity to investigate the chain formation speed (switching speed) in ferrofluids. We conclude that the ultrahigh-order mode-induced optical trapping effect may be the main reason for the observed fast switching time which is increased by at least three orders of magnitude when a magnetic field was applied.     

Continuous-flow ferrohydrodynamic sorting of particles and cells in microfluidic devices

A new sorting scheme based on ferrofluid hydrodynamics (ferrohydrodynamics) was used to separate mixtures of particles and live cells simultaneously. Two species of cells, including Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as fluorescent polystyrene microparticles were studied for their sorting throughput and efficiency. Ferrofluids are stable magnetic nanoparticles suspensions. Under external magnetic field gradients, magnetic buoyancy forces exerted on particles and cells lead to size-dependent deflections from their laminar flow paths and result in spatial separation. We report the design, modeling, fabrication and characterization of the sorting device. This scheme is simple, low-cost and label-free compared to other existing techniques.     

Mechanical feedback analysis of a ferrofluid-based module with 2D dynamic traveling waves for tactile display application

With the advances of human-machine systems, tactile displays have become one of the important features for modern products. Tactile feedback can increase working efficiency and help humans to explore new environments or objects by the sense of touch. This study used a 3 × 3 electromagnet array and a ferrofluid bladder to build a tactile display module, which can create smooth and continuous real-time 2-D dynamic traveling waves. The interactions of magnetic fields between electromagnets in the array were used to control the directions of the magnetic lines of force to create different graph patterns. Our user test showed that the overall tactile perception rate was 74% for the 2-D dynamic graph patterns generated using the ferrofluid-based tactile display module.     

Ferrofluid-molding method for polymeric microlens arrays fabrication

This study proposes a method named as ferrofluid-molding method for polymer microlens array fabrication. In this method, the master of the mother mold for microlens molding is an array of ferrofluid droplets. We generated droplet arrays by inducing the droplet’s magnetic hydrodynamic instability under different magnetic fields, and used the field-dependent droplet dimensions to fabricate numerous mold cavities. By this we could fabricate arrays of microlens with different bottom area, height, radius of curvature, and focal length. From our analysis, all the fabricated microlens arrays possessed good uniformity, and the largest numerical aperture of our microlens array was found as 0.54. In addition, we also designed a light uniformity experiment to demonstrate a potential application of our microlens arrays.