ABSTRACT
Perhaps one of the most intriguing and promising nanobiochip technologies involves nanofl uidics arrays. Nanofl uidics can be defi ned as is the study of the behavior, manipulation, and control of fl uids that are confi ned to structures of nanometer (typically 1-100 nm) dimensions. If a nanofl uidics system is properly designed it can allow for the effi cient and precise isolation and analysis of individual biomolecules. In 1965 the researchers C.L. Rice and R. Whitehead published a seminal paper on the theory behind fl uidics physics in a nanoscale capillary which resulted in the derivation of the following equation for the radial distribution of the
velocity of a liquid, v z (r) as follows:
where ε is the dielectric constant, k is the Boltzmann constant, φ is the potential, n is the ion number density and E
z is the electric fi eld. It is from
this fi nal equation that fl uid fl ow in nanosized capillaries is governed by both the pore size (radius) and the Debye Length (the distance over which signifi cant charge separation can occur). These two parameters thus allow for a custom tailoring of nanofl uidics devices to meet fl uid fl ow requirements for various diagnostics applications.
