Proteinaceous Bubbles and Nano Particle Flows in Microchannel

Proteinaceous bubbles of 185 nm in average diameter were synthesized by a sonochemical treatment of bovine serum albumin in aqueous solution and the nanoparticles (TiO₂) solution was made by ultrasonic irradiation. To study the macroscopic flow behavior associated with the changes in the state of microparticles, a flow test of these solutions in microchannels was done. Also the size distributions of the proteinaceous bubbles in solution before and after the flow test were measured by a light scattering method. Test results show that the air-filled proteinaceous bubbles in solution adjust their size to reduce the shear stress encountered in the flow through the microchannel. On the other hand, the flow rate of the solution with nanoparticles suspensions becomes smaller than that of deionized water above the flow rate of 6 cm³/min in the microchannel with a dimension of 100×150 μm².