We wish to know if it is possible to create a commercial measuring product with nanoliter precision. We are creating a microfluidic device in PMMA. We wish to measure 100 ul volume of a solution with nanoliter precision. The same would have graduated markings to track the nanoliter volume change. Is it possible to create such a device with current mass fabrication tools?
We are in design phase of our project and it will help us understand if we should go ahead with it or not.
Hi Rohan,
I wonder what would be the application of that tool? Do you want to measure continuous fluid volume or droplet? If you want to measure the droplet volume with 10 nl sensitivity, I think it is already done.
Ali Kalantarifard We wish to measure some changes in signal as a result of volume exhaustion in a particular reaction that we perform. Would like to know if someone has done anything like this for continuous fluid volume.
Hello Rohan,
yes, it is possible. There are different nanofabrication techniques that you can use to control small volumes (even smaller than nl). I guess that one of your challenges is to have a non- deformable material when you are 'pumping' your fluid through the micro/nanochannel as any compliance int eh material would lead to inaccuracies in the fluid control and measurement. You could, for instance, use RIE to create a Si microfluidic or nanofluidic channel. You could also use other etching techniques to fabricate the device in glass. PMMA, as you mention is an option too as it is less deformable that the commonly used PDMS in microfluidics.
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