Electronic edition ISSN 1574-0579

Viscous fluid transport on microchannel magnetic fluid wall

F. F. Han¹ - X. H. Liu¹ - Z. M. Fu¹ - X. Y. Yao² - Y. F. Shi¹ - Y. J. Hu¹

¹ Faculty of Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technology
² College of Artificial Intelligence, Chongqing Technology and Business University Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Abstract
Magnetic fluid is an intelligent material which is a stable suspension, whose magnetic particles are uniformly and stably dispersed in the base liquid. It has not only the characteristics of fluid but also has the related characteristics of magnetic materials. The rheological property of magnetic fluid can be controlled effectively by changing the magnetic field. This paper focuses on the feasibility of using magnetic fluid to construct a liquid wall for transporting viscous fluids in microchannels. Here a magnetic field structure is designed, and an experimental setup is developed to evaluate the liquid-wall formation under the excited magnetic field. The experimental results show that when the magnetic field intensity exceeds 13.62 mT the magnetic fluid will form an annular liquid wall within the microchannel, but the surface exhibits relatively large fluctuations. At 20.99 mT, the magnetic fluid forms a relatively stable liquid-wall channel with minor surface fluctuations. This study provides insights into the transport of viscous fluids in microchannels and may facilitate the development of liquid-wall microfluidic systems. Figs 9, Refs 14.