Special Topics in Microfluidics: Fall 2010

As a graduate student working on microfluidics field, one should have basic knowledge about the subject matter. I am taking a class on Special Topics on microfluidics this fall (Fall2010). Course is taught by my advisor. It is getting interesting so far.

He has discussed about the fabrication of microchips on glass, polymer etc substrates. I started working on microfluidics from the middle of spring semester this year and have done fabrication of microchips. I may have fabricated nearly 50 microchips till date. Fabrication is one of the very first steps in microfluidics experiments. Among the different fabrication steps for microchips, bonding is the most challenging step and it requires very close attention. I am talking about the microchips fabricated on glass substrate. I have mentioned little bit about this difficulty in my previous post. These days I am successful on bonding. No problem at all. All the chips I have attempted for bonding are good and ready for the further testing.

Bonding is easier on polymer chips than glass chips.

First Microfluidic Chip Ready to Use

As I have started working on microfluidic devices for last couple of weeks, my first chip is ready for use. This is a glass microchip intended to enhance the sensitivity of ELISA. Design of the this chip is not complex. Fabrication of such chips requires more art than science, I believe. My chip is not perfect but good enough to carry out some of the tests that I am planning in following days. I am happy for this. 

The most difficult and uncertain part of chip fabrication was bonding two glass plates-the substrate in which channels were developed and a cover plate to cover the substrate plate. I will write in details about each steps involved in fabrication with my experience in upcoming posts. Keep visiting this blog. In brief photo-lithography and wet etching process were employed and room temperature bonding was used. Below is the picture of my chip.

Started blogging on micro and nano-fluidics

I have been blogging for almost three years. My current blog postings include random subject matters like personal experiences, science, politics, travel, chemistry, community news and events etc. I have started working on microfluidics since last month as a graduate student of chemistry. It is exciting field and I see very bright future of this area. I will be posting blog posts on fundamentals, new research works, news and others related to micro/nano-fluidics, lab on chip techniques and applications.

Name of the blog is chosen as "Small is BIG". I think this describes this field better. Small structures but big impact and importance in application.

"Small is BIG" is planned as a platform to all who are working and interested in the related field. So, you are always welcome to write comments, participate in discussions on various topics and also as a writer.