Laminar flow in microfluidics investigated by spatially-resolved soft X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy

The application of soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to liquid cells based on microfluidics for chemical state analysis of light elements is much more difficult than hard X-ray absorption since soft X-rays cannot deeply penetrate a microfluidic cell. In this study, we have newly developed a microfluidic cell for spatially resolved XAS, where a 100 nm thick Si₃N₄ membrane is used for the measurement window to transmit soft X-rays for keeping the microfluidic flow at a width and depth of 50 µm. The π^* peak of pyridine near the N K-edge XAS shows characteristic energy shifts near the liquid-liquid interface in a laminar flow of pyridine and water. The distributions of the molar fractions of pyridine and water near the liquid-liquid interface have been determined from the energy shifts of the π^* peak probed at different geometric positions, where pyridine is mixed in the water part of the laminar flow and vice versa. The spatial distribution of both species has also been studied by infrared microscopy, using the same microfluidic setup. The present work clearly shows that these spectroscopic techniques are easily applicable to chemical and biological reactions prepared by microfluidics.