• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2658-2663
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• 2008

In the present study, we designed a microfluidic flatform that generates monodisperse droplets with diameters ranging from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers. To generate fine droplets, T-junction and flow-focusing geometry are integrated into the microfluidic channel. Relatively large aqueous droplets are generated at the upstream T-junction and transported toward the flow-focusing geometry, where each droplet is broken up into the targeted size by the action of viscous stresses. Because the droplet prior to rupture blocks the straight channel that leads to the flow-focusing geometry, it moves very slowly by the pressure difference applied between the advancing and receding regions of the moving droplet. This configuration enables very low flow rate of inner fluid and higher flow rate ratio between inner and outer fluids at the flow-focusing region. It is shown that the present microfluidic device can generate droplets with diameters about 1 micrometer size and standard deviation less than 3%.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2696-2699
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• 2008

Microfluidic chips have been frequently utilized to perform biochemical analysis, like cell culture, because they reduce the consumptions of analytes and reagents and automate multi-step analysis processes. It is often critical to monitor temperature in a microchannel for the analyses in order to control a reaction condition of bio or chemical molecules. We propose a novel method to monitor temperature of a microchannel flow by using polydiacetylene (PDA), a conjugated polymer, that has a unique property to transform its color from visible blue to fluorescent red by thermal stress. We inject PDA sensor droplets generated by hydrodynamic instability into a microchannel with a microheater incorporated on the channel bottom. Also, we change the channel temperature by providing the different electric power to the microheater. The results show that the florescence intensity of PDA sensor droplets linearly increases in response to the flow temperature increase within a certain range.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.839-843
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• 2019

This paper demonstrates a variable capacitor using fluids as dielectric material and investigates the possibility of its application to a magnetic resonance microscopy's coil. The capacitor structure was integrated with a microfluidic channel and the capacitance was measured while changing the filling percentage of fluids in the channel. The measured capacitance when filling DI water and mineral oil was changed from 1.7 pF to 12 pF and from 1.7 pF to 2 pF, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.1409-1410
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• 2010

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.25-29
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• 2012

This paper introduces a new parameter to design the $2{\times}2$ microfluidic centrifuge with single flow rotation positioned at the center of microchamber. The dimensional centrifugal acceleration momentum flux which is defined as the interfacial momentum flux divided by distance from the center of the chamber explains the flow rotation and its threshold provides a reference to expect single flow rotation. Through the numerical and experimental visualization of the flow rotation, the number and position of flow rotation in the $2{\times}2$ microfluidic centrifuge were examined. At a channel width of $50{\mu}m$ and chamber width of $250{\mu}m$, single flow rotation was obtained over at a Reynolds number of 300, while at a channel width of $100{\mu}m$ and chamber width of $500{\mu}m$, single flow rotation did not appear. The numerical analysis showed that the threshold centrifugal acceleration momentum flux to obtain single flow rotation was $3500kg/m{\cdot}s^2$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.739-743
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• 2008

Microfluidic device can be applied in a wide range of chemical and biological technology. In this paper, ceramic-based T-type passive mixers for microfluidic applications were fabricated by LTCC process combined with thick film photolithography. The base ceramic material in thick film was amorphous cordierite $((Mg,Ca)_2Al_4Si_5O_{18})$ and photoimageable polymers were added to give a photosensitivity. Two types of passive mixer, which showed the channel width of 1.0 mm and $200{\mu}m$, respectively, were designed considering mixing efficiency in the channel and their microfluidic properties were discussed in detail.

• BioChip Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.257-267
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• 2018

Inertial microfluidics has attracted significant attention in recent years due to its superior benefits of high throughput, precise control, simplicity, and low cost. Many inertial microfluidic applications have been demonstrated for physiological sample processing, clinical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring and cleanup. In this review, we discuss the fundamental mechanisms and principles of inertial migration and Dean flow, which are the basis of inertial microfluidics, and provide basic scaling laws for designing the inertial microfluidic devices. This will allow end-users with diverse backgrounds to more easily take advantage of the inertial microfluidic technologies in a wide range of applications. A variety of recent applications are also classified according to the structure of the microchannel: straight channels and curved channels. Finally, several future perspectives of employing fluid inertia in microfluidic-based cell sorting are discussed. Inertial microfluidics is still expected to be promising in the near future with more novel designs using various shapes of cross section, sheath flows with different viscosities, or technologies that target micron and submicron bioparticles.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.71-76
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• 2007

Flow visualization of a droplet passing through a straight channel and a diverging channel has been carried out using micro-PIV. Diverging channel is frequently used in lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic devices, where flow pattern inside the droplet passing is quite different from that through a straight channel. In the present study, we visualized the droplet flow in three different regions. The first region is where the droplet has a wide contact area with the channel wall, the second region is characterized with a narrow contact area and the third region is where droplet is detached from the channel wall. Visualization results show that the internal flow inside the droplet passing through the straight channel moves in the opposite direction to the droplet velocity in the near wall exhibiting complex flow patterns. But in the diverging channel the internal flow inside the droplet moves in the same direction as the droplet velocity due to the shear induced by oil phase flow exhibiting rather simple flow pattern.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2007

The control of surface properties and spatial presentation of functional molecules within a microfluidic channel is important for the development of diagnostic assays, microreactors, and for performing fundamental studies of cell biology and fluid mechanics. Here, we present soft lithographic methods to create robust microchannels with patterned microstructures inside the channel. The patterned regions were protected from oxygen plasma by controlling the dimensions of the poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) mold as well as the sequence of fabrication steps. The approach was used to pattern a non-biofouling polyethylene glycol(PEG)-based copolymer or the polysaccharide hyaluronic acid(HA) within microfluidic channels. These non-biofouling patterns were then used to fabricate arrays of fibronectin(FN) and bovine serum albumin(BSA) as well as mammalian cells.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.887-893
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• 2005

The aggregability of red blood cells (RBCs) was determined by laser backscattering light analysis in a microfluidic channel. Available techniques for RBC aggregation often adopt a rotational Couette-flow using a bob-and-cup system for disaggregating RBCs, which causes the system to be complex and expensive. A disposable microfluidic channel and vibration generating mechanism were used in the proposed new detection system for RBC aggregation. Prior to measurement, RBC aggregates in a blood sample were completely disaggregated by the application of vibration-induced shear. With the present apparatus, the aggregation indexes of RBCs can be measured easily with small quantities of a blood sample. The measurements with the present aggregometer were compared with those of LORCA and the results showed a strong correlation between them. The aggregability of the defibrinogenated blood RBCs is markedly lower than that of the normal RBCs. The noble feature of this design is the vibration-induced disaggregation mechanism, which can incorporate the disposable element that holds the blood sample.