• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1844-1852
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• 2001

Recent developments in microfluidic devices based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technique find many practical applications, which include electronic chip cooling devices, power MEMS devices, micro sensors, and bio-medical devices among others. For the design of such micro devices, flows characteristics inside a microchannel have to be clarified which exhibit somewhat different characteristics compared to conventional flows in a macrochannel. In the present study microchannels of various hydraulic diameters are fabricated on a silicon wafer to study the pressure drop characteristics. The effect of abrupt contraction and expansion is also studied. It is found from the results that the friction factor in a straight microchannel is about 15% higher than that in a conventional macrochannel, and the loss coefficients in abrupt expansion and contraction are about 10% higher than that obtained through conventional flow analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.977-984
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• 2013

A hygroscopic rotor comprises many microchannels with high adsorption characteristics. In this study, the iterative adsorption/desorption processes that were affected by the humid air flow in a channel were numerically simulated. In consideration of the accuracy and computational costs, in the desiccant layer, only surface diffusion was considered in this simulation. The results were compared with the previous numerical results and found to show good agreement. By conjugating the heat and mass transfer between the desiccant and the flow layers, temporal and spatial changes in the vapor mass fraction, adsorbed liquid water mass fraction, and temperature in the channel were presented.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.51-51
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• 2012

There is a growing interest in innovative chemical synthesis in microreactors owing to high efficiency, selectivity, and yield. In microfluidic systems, the low-volume spatial and temporal control of reactants and products offers a novel method for chemical manipulation and product generation. Glass, silicon, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), and plastics have been used for the fabrication of miniaturized devices. However, these materials are not the best due to either of low chemical durability or expensive fabrication costs. In our group, we have recently addressed the demand for economical resistant materials that can be used for easy fabrication of microfluidic systems with reliable durability. We have suggested the use of various specialty polymers such as silicon-based inorganic polymers and fluoropolymer, flexible polyimide (PI) films that have not been used for microfluidic devices, although they have been used for other areas. And inexpensive lithography techniques were used to fabricate Lab-on-a-Chip type of microreactors with differently devised microchannel design. These microreactors were demonstrated for various synthetic reactions: liquid, liquid-gas organic chemical reactions in heterogeneous catalytic processes, syntheses of polymer and non-trivial inorganic materials. The microreactors were inert, and withstand even harsh conditions, including hydrothermal reaction. In addition, various built-in microstructures inside the microchannels, for example Pd decorated peptide nanowires, definitely enhance the uniqueness and performance of microreactors. These user-friendly Lab-on-a-Chip devices are useful alternatives for chemist and chemical engineer to conventional chemical tools such as glass.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.286-287
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• 2007

본 논문에서는 최근 유체소자 재료로써 많이 사용되고 있는 polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)의 레이저 직접식각에 관한 특성을 나타내었다. 식각을 위한 레이저 원으로 기본파가 1064 nm, 반복율이 10 Hz인 Nd:YAG 레이저의 4고조파 성분 ($\lambda$=266 nm)을 사용하였다. X-Y-Z 축으로 이동 가능한 스테이지의 수평 이동속도를 변화시키며, 표면으로 조사되는 펄스 수를 제어하였다. 식각 후 광학현미경으로 식각 단면을 조사하여 식각 깊이와 폭을 측정하였다. 측정된 식각 깊이로부터 식각률을 계산하고, 그 값과 레이저 빔 밀도와의 관계를 알아보았다. 그 결과 시료 표면에 조사되는 레이저 빔 밀도의 로그값과 선형적인 관계를 갖는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 주사전자현미경을 이용하여 채널 형상 및 채널 내벽을 관찰하였다. 마이크로 채널 내벽에 식각 과정에서 발생한 생성물의 제거를 위해, 레이저 식각과 함께 질소가스 블로잉을 해주었다. 질소 블로잉 압력 1500 torr에서 식각 잔유물이 제거된 내벽을 볼 수 있었다. 실험결과, Nd:YAG 4고조파를 이용하여 PMMA 기판상에 유체 이동을 위한 마이크로 채널을 형성시킬 수 있었다.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.207-215
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• 2005

We present a finite difference solution for electrokinetic flow in rectangular microchannels encompassing Navier's fluid slip phenomena. The externally applied body force originated from between the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann field around the channel wall and the flow-induced electric field is employed in the equation of motion. The basic principle of net current conservation is applied in the ion transport. The effects of the slip length and the long-range repulsion upon the velocity profile are examined in conjunction with the friction factor. It is evident that the fluid slip counteracts the effect by the electric double layer and induces a larger flow rate. Particle streak imaging by fluorescent microscope and the data processing method developed ourselves are applied to straight channel designed to allow for flow visualization of dilute latex colloids underlying the condition of simple fluid. The reliability of the velocity profile determined by the flow imaging is justified by comparing with the finite difference solution. We recognized the behavior of fluid slip in velocity profiles at the hydrophobic surface of polydimethylsiloxane wall, from which the slip length was evaluated for different conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.106-112
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• 2021

Thermoplastic microfluidic devices are used in BioMEMS for medical and biotechnology applications, such as gene extraction, DNA analysis, and virus detection. In this research, a simple fabrication protocol with a commercially available pneumatic hot press is proposed and demonstrated for polycarbonate microfluidic devices. Microfluidic channels with a width of 200 ㎛ and a height of 10 ㎛ were designed and machined onto a brass plate as a mold insert using a CNC milling machine. The resulting microfluidic channels on the mold insert were assessed and found to have an actual width of 198 ㎛ and a height of 10 ± 0.25 ㎛. The microfluidic channels were replicated on a polycarbonate sheet using the proposed replication technique at 146℃ for 20 minutes under a constant load of 2400 kgf. The devices were then naturally cooled to 100℃ while maintaining the same pressure. It was found that the microchannels were successfully replicated in the polycarbonate, with a width of 198 ㎛ and a height of 10.07 ㎛. The proposed replication technique thus offers the rapid mass production of high-quality microfluidic devices at a low cost with a process that, unlike conventional photolithography systems, does not require expensive equipment.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2013

The water management is one of the key issues in low operating temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The gas diffusion layer (GDL) allows the reactant gases flow to the reaction sites of the catalyst layer (CL). At high current density, generated water forms droplets because the normal operating temperature is $60{\sim}80^{\circ}C$. If liquid water is not evacuated properly, the pores in the GDL will be blocked and the performance will be reduced severely. In this study, the microchannel GDL was proposed to solve the flooding problem. The liquid water transport through 3-D constructed conventional GDL and microchannel GDL was analyzed varying air velocity, water velocity, and contact angle. The simulation results showed that the liquid water was evacuated rapidly through the microchannel GDL because of the lower flow resistance. Therefore, the microchannel GDL was efficient to remove liquid water in the GDL and gas channels.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.733-737
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• 2012

This study reports the microfluidic preparation of monodisperse multiple emulsions using hydrodynamic control. To generate multiple emulsions, we fabricate a microfluidic capillary device based on co-flowing stream without any surface modification of microchannels. Based on the system, we can successfully generate multiple emulsions (W/O/W) using water containing 0.5 wt% Tween 20, n-hexadecane with 5 wt% Span 80, and 10 wt% poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aqueous solution, respectively. Furthermore, we control the number of inner droplets by modulation of flow rate of inner fluid at fixed flow rate of middle and outer fluid. The multiple emulsions having precisely controlled inner droplets' size and number can be applicable for multiple chemical reactions as an isolated microreactor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.2 s.245
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• pp.110-116
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• 2006

A syringe pump or a device using high electric voltage has been used for controlling flows inside a LOC (lab-on-a-chip). Compared to LOC, however, these microfluidic devices are large and heavy that they are burdensome for a portable ${\mu}-TAS$ (micro total analysis system). In this study, a new flow control technique employing pressure regulators and pressure chambers was developed. This technique utilizes compressed air to control the micro-scale flow inside a LOC, instead of a mechanical actuator or an electric power supply. The pressure regulator controls the output air pressure by adjusting the variable resistor attached. We checked the feasibility of this system by measuring the flow rate inside a capillary tube of $100{\mu}m$ diameter in the Re numbers ranged from 0.5 to 50. In addition, the performance of this flow control system was compared with that of a conventional syringe pump. The developed flow control system was found to show superior performance, compared with the syringe pump. It maintains automatically the: air pressure inside a pressure chamber whether the flow inside the capillary tube is on or off. Since the flow rate is nearly proportional to the resistance, we can control flow in multiple microchannels precisely. However, the syringe pump shows large variation of flow rate when the fluid flow is blocked in the microchannel.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1196-1200
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• 2004

Micropump is very useful component in micro/nano fluidics and bioMEMS applications. In this study, a bubble-powered micropump was fabricated and tested. The micropump consists of two-parallel micro line heaters, a pair of nozzle-diffuser flow controller and a 1 mm in diameter, 400 ${\mu}m$ in depth pumping chamber. The two-parallel micro line heaters with 20 ${\mu}m-width$ and 200 ${\mu}m-length$ were fabricated to be embedded in the silicon dioxide layer of a wafer which serves as a base plate for the micropump. The pumping chamber, the pair of nozzle-diffuser unit and microchannels including the liquid inlet and outlet port were fabricated by etching through another silicon wafer. A glass wafer (thickness of $525{\pm}15$ ${\mu}m$) having two holes of inlet and outlet ports of liquid serve as upper plate of the pump. Finally the silicon wafer of the base plate, the silicon wafer of pumping chamber and the glass wafer were aligned and bonded (Si-Si bonding and anodic bonding). A sequential photograph of bubble nucleation, growth and collapse was visualized by CCD camera. Clearly liquid flow through the nozzle during the period of bubble growth and slight back flow of liquid at the end of collapsing period can be seen. The mass flow rate was found to be dependent on the duty ratio and the operation frequency. As duty ratio increases, flow rate decreases gradually when the duty ratio exceeds 60%. Also as the operation frequency increases, the flow rate of the micropump decreases slightly.