When a car drives over a leaf-strewn autumn road, it pulls leaves up with its passage. This tendency to drag fluid along when an object passes is called entrainment, and Keep reading
Tag: microfluidics
Changing with the Flow
Chemically-reacting flows are some of the toughest problems to unravel. In this new study, researchers found that the very act of flowing through narrow channels can change the speed of Keep reading
Devising Greener Chemistry
Not all microfluidic devices use tiny channels to pump and mix fluids. Some, like the Vortex Fluidic Device (VFD), conduct their microfluidic mixing in thin films of fluid. The VFD Keep reading
When Honey Flows Faster Than Water
With its high viscosity, no one would ever pick honey to beat water in a race. But a new study shows there’s at least one circumstance where honey wins: inside Keep reading
Microfluidic Pac-Man
Researchers are using coalescence to guide microdroplets through a miniature maze, a la Pac-Man. To steer the main droplet, they place a smaller droplet nearby in the direction they want Keep reading
Synchronizing Microfluidic Drops
In nature, synchronization occurs when oscillators interact. A group of metronomes shifting to tick in unison is a classic example. Here, the system is a microfluidic T-junction and the oscillators Keep reading
The Wanderings of Micro-Scallops
In the 19th century, botanist Robert Brown observed pollen granules beneath his microscope jittering randomly. Einstein showed that this motion resulted from the impacts of much-smaller atoms against the particles. Keep reading
Bacterial Turbulence
Conventional fluid dynamical wisdom posits that any flows at the microscale should be laminar. Tiny swimmers like microorganisms live in a world dominated by viscosity, therefore, there can be no Keep reading
Pumping Through Liquid Tubes
As the tubes carrying a liquid get smaller, it becomes harder and harder to keep fluids flowing. Friction between the fluid and the wall brings flow there to a standstill Keep reading
A Microfluidic Zoo
Microfluidic channels are excellent at creating a steady supply of droplets. But depending on the characteristics of the two viscous fluids being used, as well as factors like flow rate Keep reading