Proposal Number: CTS-0630191 Principal Investigator: Gilchrist, James F. Affiliation: Lehigh University Proposal Title: SGER: Observation of 3D Suspension Transport in Microchannels via High-Speed Confocal Microscopy
Intellectual Merit: The exploratory research program will investigate behavior of suspensions in simple and 3D flows in microchannels. Particle-particle, particle-fluid and particle-field interactions generating particle migration can result in particle self-organization into non-uniform particle distributions. In competition with these processes, chaotic advection, generated by spatial or temporal perturbations to the flow, and diffusion typically result in enhanced dispersion. This study is the first direct investigation of the interplay between flow-induced dispersion and self-organization in microscale systems. Initial exploration of the competition between order and disorder in these systems will be realized via high-speed laser scanning confocal microscopy (CLSM, VisiTech International). These measurements will eventually be used to challenge current models that estimate the concentration profiles resulting from particle migration in 3D chaotic flows.
Broader Impacts: Particulate flows in microfluidic geometries are important for cell separations and other analytical operations that will likely be the focus of lab-on-a-chip systems of the future. This work will provide both graduate and undergraduate educational opportunities in an area at the convergence of several technologically-critical research areas, including microfluidics and suspension structure. At the graduate level, information disseminated from this research regarding 3D mixing and colloidal flows in microchannels will be incorporated into graduate level Transport Phenomena. For undergraduates, semester/summer research opportunities will provide hands-on experience with microfluidics, suspensions, and high speed CLSM. Information related to this project will be presented at national conferences as well as to local interest groups such as the Lehigh Nanotechnology Network, a consortium of regional companies interested in materials and transport processes at the micro and nanoscale.
