LASER And Electric Field Technologies Take A Lead In Purdue University

Hybrid techniques offer a compact approach in any work and condition. They are more advanced than the as they use different technologies to perform a specific task. A team of scientists researching on the same topic has achieved perfection in a hybrid technology, combining a LASER and electric fields to govern the properties of fluids and tiny particles including living organisms like bacteria and viruses. This will have a wide scope in diverse fields like pharmaceuticals and food securities. The other researchers in the team were Aloke Kumar of Oak Ridge National University, Prof. Stuart J. Williams of University of Louisville, Prof. Han-Sheng Chuang of National Cheng Kung University and Nicolas G. Green of University of Southampton.

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Figure shows a simple diagram of hybrid optoelectric manipulation in microfluidics

The process as developed by the team is called hybrid optoelectric manipulation in microfluidics. It involves placing a droplet of fluid of which we want to manipulate the properties, on a platform, specially fabricated for the purpose. Thereafter, it is heated with the help of infrared LASER and then the heated fluid is circulated using the applied electric fields.  By doing so, a microfluid VORTEX is formed which can be used to retain only the required particles of specified dimensions.

The technology has a current potential of usage in two fields. The first one is in micro-fluidics which takes hardly a second to respond and the other being applications like lab on a chip applications which have a wide scope as a sensor as seen in last 5-7 years.  The technology also has great applications in Pharmaceutical arena. We can precisely select particle sizes as per requirements. While speaking about its applications in medical field, Werely said that the separation techniques employed in this technology is superior to an ordinary approach of using a ‘centrifuge and filter’ owing to the reason that centrifuge applies equal force on every particle in a fluid while the hybrid technique is only for a selected particles. This gives us flexibility as to which particles do we want to separate.

Similarly the technology can also be used in nano-manufacturing. Colloids can be used in production of machine components of some special mechanical properties. According to researchers, all this would be possible within next five years. So the next time you want to separate a particular bacteria from a group, you can easily do so by using hybrid optoelectric manipulation in microfluidics. The only thing left is to commercialize it so that the process should be economical. The research work by the team is published in July 7 issue of Lab on a chip magazine of Royal Society of Chemistry.

Source: Laser, electric fields combined for new 'lab-on-chip' technologies