MAE 207 - Microfluidics - Winter 2012 Lecture 17 - Notes Prepared by Sandeep Kannan

MAE 207 - Microfluidics - Winter 2012 Lecture 17 - Notes prepared by Sandeep Kannan
Introduction
The seventeenth lecture was about the capillarity and the inuence of gravity on it. In the lecture, equation for capillary length, the length above which gravity comes into play was derived. Next, the capillary rise in tubes or Jurins law was explained. It was solved by two methods, using pressure balance and by energetic calculation. The nal part of the lecture was about capillary ows in microuidics, specically condition for moving a uid droplet using surface tension was discussed.
Capillary length
If there were no gravity in a liquid droplet on a plane surface at equilibrium, the pressure is constant throughout and will assume a spherical cap shape. But if there is gravity, hydrostatic pressure gradients exist. Suppose a droplet of height h and atmospheric pressure Po , the pressure at a depth h is given by, P = Po + gh
Figure 1: Fluid of height h There is a particular length for the uid, beyond which gravity becomes important. This length is referred to as capillary length, denoted by Rc . Expression for capillary length can be obtained by the balance between hydrostatic pressure and capillary pressure. As soon as gravity is important, we will have a balance between both the pressures Hydrostatic pressure Capillary pressure, P 1 P, P gR R (1) (2)
From equations (1) and (2),
gR R R2 = g Rc = g (3)
Where Rc is the capillary length. It is generally of the order of mm. From equation (3) it can be observed that if g is small, R goes high. Also if g = 0, as in space, R . If there is an interface between two immiscible uids, say water and oil, the new capillary length will be given by the equation 12 R= (4) g where is the dierence in densities of two uids.
Figure 2: Interaction of two immiscible funds Therefore to get large R in a liquid by a factor of 10 to 1000, it is required to work in microgravity environment or simply by replacing air by a non-miscible uid with density similar to that of the original uid. Note: For water and air capillary length is roughly calculated below as, = 1000kg/m3 , g = 10m/s2 (approximate), = 7 10 2N/m By equation (3), 7 10 2 Rc = 1000 10 2
Rc = 2.5mm approx. Which means in a water droplet of size smaller than 2.5mm, gravity eects can be neglected. It is the same reason for a cup of water to assume spherical shape near the walls at a distance R < Rc and at shape at the rest of the area.
Law of capillary rise or Jurins law
If a narrow tube is inserted into a liquid and if the contact angle < 90 , the liquid rises into the tube by a certain amount in opposition to the external forces like gravity. This length is referred to as capillary rise. Another interpretation is, if the material is hydrophilic, the liquid wants to wet
Figure 3: Narrow tubes in uids with dierent contact angles the surface. In hydrophilic surface, SG > SL . Therefore to replace some SG by SL , the liquid rises up until it balances. Calculation of capillary rise: Imagine a narrow tube of radius R dipped in a uid as shown in gure 4. Here R < Rc . We have, 2 (5) Po P = r r radius of curvature of the interface, r > R and P is the pressure immediately below the uid surface. By geometry, R r= cos 3
Figure 4: Therefore, Po P = By the hydrostatic pressure in the uid, P = Po gh Po P = gh This will be balanced at equilibrium. From (6) and (7), 2cos = gh gR Or, h = But we know, 2cos gR (8) (7) 2cos R (6)
2 = Rc g h=
2 2cosRc R
Therefore, (9)
Equation (9) is the expression for capillary rise. h is also called as Jurins height. Alternative method:
Figure 5: Energetic calculation: A liquid rises if the dry tube has a surface energy SG greater than the surface energy SL of the same tube when wet. Consider a narrow tube having liquid with capillary rise h. The amount of surface energy gained when the liquid rise into the tube is given by Es = (LS SG )2Rh By Youngs law, we have LS + cos = SG Es = cos2Rh The amount of potential energy spent will be Eg = mg h 2
h 2
(10)
(11)
(12) is the height of the centre of mass of the
where m is the mass of the uid in the tube and uid. Eg = R2 g Therefore the net change in energy is E = R2 g
h2 2
(13)
h2 2Rhcos 2 5
(14)
Figure 6: E vs h graph is as shown below.
E vs capillary rise graph
From the graph, energy is gained for small h and for large h, energy is spend. Therefore at equilibrium (heq ), E =0 (15) h R2 hg 2Rcos = 0 h= 2cos , gR (16)
which is same as equation (9). Note: For water Rc = 2.5mm approximately, so h is found to be of the order of 10m inside a tube of radius 1m.
Capillary ows in microuidics:
Capillary forces can be used to manipulate uids with free surfaces. When the equilibrium of the interfacial forces are lost, it causes motion of the uids. Capillary manipulation of the microuidics can be achieved by two ways. Either by changing SL or by introducing a gradient in .
4.1
Moving uids using surface tension
Consider a droplet placed in a micro channel. If is uniform and droplet is at mechanical equilibrium, then there is no motion. Inorder to have motion, a gradient should be introduced in the surface tension. Now if the droplet is placed in between two domains as shown below,
Figure 7: Since there is surface tension gradient, the droplet acquires motion. The direction to which droplet moves can be found as, Po P1 = 2 R1 2 Po P2 = R2 (17) (18)
Where R1 ,R2 and P1 , P2 are the radii and pressures of left and right sides of the droplet respectively. P2 P1 = 2[ 1 1 ] R1 R2
Since R2 > R1 , P2 > P1 Therefore the droplet moves towards left, the region of smaller contact angle. Alternatively, By Youngs equation,
1 1 SG = cos1 + LS
(19)
2 2 SG = cos2 + LS
(20)
If the droplet is moved to left by A, The change in surface energy, E 1 1 2 2 = (LS SG ) + (SG LS ) A lef t = cos1 + cos2 = (cos2 cos1 ), < 0 Therefore the droplet gains energy on moving to left, means droplet motion is energetically favorable. (21)
References
[1] Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Francoise Brochard-Wyart and David Quere Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena, Drops, Bubbles, Pearls, Waves . Springer [2] Todd M. Squires and Stephen R. Quake Microuidics: Fluid physics at the nanoliter scale. Reviews of modern physics, volume 77, July 2005.

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MAE 207 - Microfluidics - Winter 2012 Lecture 17 - Notes Prepared by Sandeep Kannan

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MAE 207 - Microfluidics - Winter 2012 Lecture 17 - Notes prepared by Sandeep Kannan

From equations (1) and (2),

Law of capillary rise or Jurins law

(12) is the height of the centre of mass of the

Figure 6: E vs h graph is as shown below.

E vs capillary rise graph

Capillary ows in microuidics:

Moving uids using surface tension

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