Optic imaging of single and two-phase pressure-driven flows in nano-scale channels

Microfluidic and nanofluidic devices have undergone rapid development in recent years. Functions integrated onto such devices provide lab-on-a-chip solutions for many biomedical, chemical, and engineering applications. In this paper, a lab-on-a-chip technique for direct visualization of the single- and two-phase pressure-driven flows in nano-scale channels was developed. The nanofluidic chip was designed and fabricated; concentration dependent fluorescence signal correlation was developed for the determination of flow rate. Experiments of single and two-phase flow in nano-scale channels with 100 nm depth were conducted. The linearity correlation between flow rate and pressure drop in nanochannels was obtained and fit closely into Poiseuille's Law. Meanwhile, three different flow patterns, single, annular, and stratified, were observed from the two-phase flow in the nanochannel experiments and their special features were described. A two-phase flow regime map for nanochannels is presented. Results are of critical importance to both fundamental study and many applications.