Microflow photochemistry—a reactor comparison study using the photochemical synthesis of terebic acid as a model reaction

The continuous-microflow photochemical synthesis of terebic acid from maleic acid was investigated in two different microreactor set-ups. The results were subsequently compared to analogue experiments in a conventional chamber reactor. Based on conversion rates, reactor design and energy efficiency calculations, the simple microcapillary reactor showed the best overall performance.     

A cleaner and simple spectrophotometric micro-fluidic procedure for copper determination using nitroso-R salt as chromogenic agent

A cleaner and simple spectrophotometric method using microflow analysis (muFA) was performed. It consisted of a T-junction with microcoil on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) chip which was fabricated by laser ablation and a molded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as top plate. The fabricated PMMA chip was integrated with light emitting diode (LED) as light source and spectrometer as detector. The proposed device was applied to determining copper in water samples using nitroso-R salt as chromogenic reagent at 495nm. It was found that the proposed muFA system was with less reagents and samples consumption with tiny waste generation. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was less than 2% (n=11) with the percentage recovery of 98.0+/-1.7% (n=7). The linear range for determination of copper in water samples was over the range of 0.05-3.0mugmL(-1) with a correlation coefficient (r(2)) of 0.999. The limit of detection (3sigma) was 47ngmL(-1) with a sample throughput of 30h(-1).     

Current State of Microflow Trifluoromethylation Reactions

The trifluoromethyl group is a powerful structural motif in drugs and polymers; thus, developing trifluoromethylation reactions is an important area of research in organic chemistry. Over the past few decades, significant progress has been made in developing new methods for the trifluoromethylation of organic molecules, ranging from nucleophilic and electrophilic approaches to transition-metal catalysis, photocatalysis, and electrolytic reactions. While these reactions were initially developed in batch systems, more recent microflow versions are highly attractive for industrial applications owing to their scalability, safety, and time efficiency. In this review, we discuss the current state of microflow trifluoromethylation. Approaches for microflow trifluoromethylation based on different trifluoromethylation reagents are described, including continuous flow, flow photochemical, microfluidic electrochemical reactions, and large-scale microflow reactions.     

Modeling Large-deformation-induced Microflow in Soft Biological Tissues

The homogenization approach to multiscale modeling of soft biological tissues is presented. The homogenized model describes the relationship between the macroscopic hereditary creep behavior and the microflow in a fluid-saturated dual-porous medium at the microscopic level. The micromodel is based on Biot’s system for quasistatic deformation processes, modified for the updated Lagrangian formulation to account for coupling the fluid diffusion through a porous solid undergoing large deformation. Its microstructure is constituted by fluid-filled inclusions embedded in the porous matrix. The tangential stiffness coefficients and the retardation stress for the macromodel are derived for a time-stepping algorithm. Numerical examples are discussed, showing the strong potential of the model for simulations of deformation-driven physiological processes at the microscopic scale.     

Counting of Escherichia coli by a microflow cytometer based on a photonic–microfluidic integrated device

Counting of Escherichia coli DH5α‐cell suspensions in PBS is performed using a microflow cytometer based on a photonic–microfluidic integrated device. Side‐scattered light signals are used to count the E. coli cells. A detection efficiency of 92% is achieved when compared with the expected count from a hemocytometer. The detection efficiency is correlated to the ratio of sample to sheath flow rates. It is demonstrated that E. coli can be easily distinguished from beads of similar sizes (2–4 μm) as their scattering intensities are different.     

Investigation of slip boundary conditions in the T-shaped microchannel

Flow regimes and mixing performance in a T-type micromixer at high Reynolds numbers were studied by numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations. The Reynolds number was varied from 1 to 1000. The cross section of the mixing channel was 100 μm × 200 μm, and its length was 1400 μm. The transverse inlet channels were symmetric about the mixing channel, and their cross-section was 100 μm × 100 μm, and the total length was 800 μm. Five different flow regimes were identified: (i) stationary vortex-free flow (Re < 5); (ii) stationary symmetric vortex flow with two horseshoe vortices (5 < Re < 150); (iii) stationary asymmetric vortex flow (150 < Re < 240); (iv) non-stationary periodic flow (240 < Re < 400); and (v) stochastic flow (Re > 400). Maximum mixing efficiency is obtained for nonstationary asymmetric vortex flow. In this case, an S-shaped vortex structure is formed in the flow field. The effect of the slip conditions on the flow pattern and mixing efficiency is studied. The slip length varied from 1 to 70 μm in the calculations. It was shown that the mixing can be controlled by hydrophobic coating.     

Determination of beta‐agonists in swine hair by μFIA and chemiluminescence

β‐Agonists are a group of illegal feed additives. In this paper, it was found that the light emission produced by the oxidation of luminol by potassium ferricyanide was enhanced by the β‐agonists (ractopamine, salbutamol, and terbutaline). Based on chemiluminescence phenomenon, a novel, rapid, and sensitive microflow injection analysis system on a microfluidic glass chip was established for determination of the β‐agonists. The chip was fabricated from two glass plates (64 mm × 32 mm) with microchannels of 200 μm width and 100 μm depth. The detection limits were achieved at 2.0 × 10^?8 mol/L of ractopamine, 1.0 × 10^?8 mol/L of terbutaline and 5.0 × 10^?7 mol/L of salbutamol. In this report, our method was applied for determination of the β‐agonists in swine hair from three different sources with satisfactory results.     

微流动注射芯片化学发光法检测鱼虾中的四环素

四环素(tetracycline,TC)是广谱类抗生素,由于价格低廉,防病和抗病能力强,被许多人用于食用动物和海洋生物的养殖中,由此造成动物组织中四环素的残留,人们长期食用这种动物及制品,会对人类健康构成严重的威胁。分析四环素类抗生素残留量的方法包括微生物法、紫外法、薄层色谱法     

Optimal preconditioning of lattice Boltzmann methods

A preconditioning technique to accelerate the simulation of steady-state problems using the single-relaxation-time (SRT) lattice Boltzmann (LB) method was first proposed by Guo et al. [Z. Guo, T. Zhao, Y. Shi, Preconditioned lattice-Boltzmann method for steady flows, Phys. Rev. E 70 (2004) 066706-1]. The key idea in this preconditioner is to modify the equilibrium distribution function in such a way that, by means of a Chapman–Enskog expansion, a time-derivative preconditioner of the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations is obtained. In the present contribution, the optimal values for the free parameter γ$\gamma$ of this preconditioner are searched both numerically and theoretically; the later with the aid of linear-stability analysis and with the condition number of the system of NS equations. The influence of the collision operator, single- versus multiple-relaxation-times (MRT), is also studied. Three steady-state laminar test cases are used for validation, namely: the two-dimensional lid-driven cavity, a two-dimensional microchannel and the three-dimensional backward-facing step. Finally, guidelines are suggested for an a priori definition of optimal preconditioning parameters as a function of the Reynolds and Mach numbers. The new optimally preconditioned MRT method derived is shown to improve, simultaneously, the rate of convergence, the stability and the accuracy of the lattice Boltzmann simulations, when compared to the non-preconditioned methods and to the optimally preconditioned SRT one. Additionally, direct time-derivative preconditioning of the LB equation is also studied.