Electrokinetics and Electrohydrodynamics in Microsystems


Book Description

Among the most promising techniques to handle small objects at the micrometer scale are those that employ electrical forces, which have the advantages of voltage-based control and dominance over other forces. The book provides a state-of-the-art knowledge on both theoretical and applied aspects of the electrical manipulation of colloidal particles and fluids in microsystems and covers the following topics: dielectrophoresis, electrowetting, electrohydrodynamics in microsystems, and electrokinetics of fluids and particles. The book is addressed to doctoral students, young or senior researchers, chemical engineers and/or biotechnologists with an interest in microfluidics, lab-on-chip or MEMS.




Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics, Volume III


Book Description

Micro/nanofluidics-based lab-on-a-chip devices have found extensive applications in the analysis of chemical and biological samples over the past two decades. Electrokinetics is the method of choice in these micro/nano-chips for transporting, manipulating, and sensing various analyte species (e.g., ions, molecules, fluids, and particles). This book aims to highlight the recent developments in the field of micro/nano-chip electrokinetics, ranging from the fundamentals of electrokinetics to the applications of electrokinetics to both chemo- and bio-sample handling.




Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics


Book Description

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics" that was published in Micromachines







Nanoparticles' Promises and Risks


Book Description

The focus of this interdisciplinary volume is on four areas of nanoparticle research: characterization, manipulation, and potential effects on humanity and the environment. The book includes a comprehensive collection of data on industrial nanoparticle creation and the characterization of the nanoscale products of these processes. The authors describe the effects of these nanoscale structures on human health and discuss prospective implementations for detection and characterization of nanoparticles in the environment. They recommend, utilizing the most up-to-date understanding of nanotechnology, methods for limiting the negative effects of these products on the environment and human health through manipulation, sorting, and filtration.




Liquid Crystals


Book Description

This book on liquid crystals reports on the new perspectives that have been brought about by the recent expansion of frontiers and overhaul of common beliefs. First, it explores the interaction of light with mesophases, when the light or matter is endowed with topological defects. It goes on to show how electrophoresis, electro-osmosis and the swimming of flagellated bacteria are affected by the anisotropic properties of liquid crystals. It also reports on the recent progress in the understanding of thermomechanical and thermohydrodynamical effects in cholesterics and deformed nematics and refutes the common belief that these effects could explain Lehmann’s observations of the rotation of cholesteric droplets subjected to a temperature gradient. It then studies the physics of the dowser texture, which has remarkable properties. This is of particular interest in regards to nematic monopoles, which can easily be generated, set into motion and collided within it. Finally, this book deals with the spontaneous emergence of chirality in nematics made of achiral molecules, and provides a brief historical context of chirality




Bio-Inspired Technology


Book Description

Biomimetic devices are designed and produced by materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes. These devices are used to synthesize novel materials and their functions at the multiscale level for various applications. Molecular computing biological devices play a key role in the logical processing of the cellular machinery of all living organisms. This book includes information on both biomedical and technological applications of bioactive devices for hard tissue regeneration; design of chip-based disease diagnostic platforms; neuromorphic computing biomaterials that transfer techniques of neuroscience to a silicon chip; various top-down and bottom-up designs; and electrical characterization and transport mechanisms of DNA as nanowires.




Magnetocaloric Energy Conversion


Book Description

This book provides the latest research on a new alternative form of technology, the magnetocaloric energy conversion. This area of research concerns magnetic refrigeration and cooling, magnetic heat pumping and magnetic power generation. The book’s systematic approach offers the theoretical basis of magnetocaloric energy conversion and its various sub domains and this is supported with the practical examples. Besides these fundamentals, the book also introduces potential solutions to engineering problems in magnetocalorics and to alternative technologies of solid state energy conversion. The aim of the book is therefore to provide engineers with the most up-to-date information and also to facilitate the understanding, design and construction of future magnetocaloric energy conversion devices. The magnetocaloric energy conversion represents an alternative to compressor based refrigerators and heat pumps. It is a serious alternative to power generation with low enthalpy heat sources. This green technology offers an opportunity to use environmentally friendly solid refrigerants and the potentially high energy efficiency follows the trends of future energy conversion devices. This book is intended for postgraduate students and researchers of refrigeration, heat pumping, power generation alternatives, heat regenerators and advanced heat transfer mechanisms.




Robotics for Cell Manipulation and Characterization


Book Description

Robotics for Cell Manipulation and Characterization provides fundamental principles underpinning robotic cell manipulation and characterization, state-of-the-art technical advances in micro/nano robotics, new discoveries of cell biology enabled by robotic systems, and their applications in clinical diagnosis and treatment. This book covers several areas, including robotics, control, computer vision, biomedical engineering and life sciences using understandable figures and tables to enhance readers' comprehension and pinpoint challenges and opportunities for biological and biomedical research. - Focuses on, and comprehensively covers, robotics for cell manipulation and characterization - Highlights recent advances in cell biology and disease treatment enabled by robotic cell manipulation and characterization - Provides insightful outlooks on future challenges and opportunities




Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology


Book Description

The success, growth, and virtually limitless applications of nanotechnology depend upon our ability to manipulate nanoscale objects, which in turn depends upon developing new insights into the interactions of electric fields, nanoparticles, and the molecules that surround them. In the first book to unite and directly address particle electrokinetics and nanotechnology, Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology provides a thorough grounding in the phenomena associated with nanoscale particle manipulation. The author delivers a wealth of application and background knowledge, from using electric fields for particle sorting in lab-on-a-chip devices to electrode fabrication, electric field simulation, and computer analysis. It also explores how electromechanics can be applied to sorting DNA molecules, examining viruses, constructing electronic devices with carbon nanotubes, and actuating nanoscale electric motors. The field of nanotechnology is inherently multidisciplinary-in its principles, in its techniques, and in its applications-and meeting its current and future challenges will require the kind of approach reflected in this book. Unmatched in its scope, Nanoelectromechanics in Engineering and Biology offers an outstanding opportunity for people in all areas of research and technology to explore the use and precise manipulation of nanoscale structures.