The challenge
Manipulating fluids at the microscale
Microfluidics has enabled a range of applications in chemistry and biology that were previously only dreamed of. Nevertheless, manipulating fluids efficiently at a microscale remains a significant challenge.
Our response
Developing advanced techniques
We are investigating the physics of fluid flows at the microscale and interactions across acoustic, optical, electrical and electromagnetic fields. We are also investigating surface phenomena such as electrokinetics and capillarity.
Understanding these microfluid manipulations has allowed us to develop more advanced techniques such as mixing, separation, pumping, transport, detection and materials formation.
By integrating these techniques with an advanced microchip fabrication method and advance integrate strategies, we have developed microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices. These devices can be used for chemical and biological sensing, the synthesis of new materials, synthetic biology, and high efficiency thermal management devices.