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A microfluidic device for thermal particle detection

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Abstract

We demonstrate the use of heat to count microscopic particles. A thermal particle detector (TPD) was fabricated by combining a 500-nm-thick silicon nitride membrane containing a thin-film resistive temperature detector with a silicone elastomer microchannel. Particles with diameters of 90 and 200 μm created relative temperature changes of 0.11 and −0.44 K, respectively, as they flowed by the sensor. A first-order lumped thermal model was developed to predict the temperature changes. Multiple particles were counted in series to demonstrate the utility of the TPD as a particle counter.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Clement Kleinstreuer and John Sader for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University, 911 Oval Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Glenn M. Walker

  2. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2112 Jonsson Engineering Center, Troy, NY, 12180, USA

    Ashwin Kumar Vutha

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Marquette University, 1515 W Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 53233, USA

    Benyamin Davaji & Chung Hoon Lee

Authors
  1. Ashwin Kumar Vutha
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  2. Benyamin Davaji
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  3. Chung Hoon Lee
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  4. Glenn M. Walker
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Correspondence to Glenn M. Walker.

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Vutha, A., Davaji, B., Lee, C.H. et al. A microfluidic device for thermal particle detection. Microfluid Nanofluid 17, 871–878 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1369-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1369-z

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