Dresden 2009 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Downloads | Hilfe

DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 26: Poster II

DY 26.24: Poster

Donnerstag, 26. März 2009, 16:00–18:00, P1A

Chiral Separation of Molecules in Microchannels — •Sebastian Meinhardt, Ralf Eichhorn, Friederike Schmid, and Jens Smiatek — Condensed Matter Theory, Department of Physics, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany

Techniques for the separation of particles by their handedness (chirality) in a microchannel can be used to make chiral analysis available for lab-on-a-chip devices. Current microscopic methods for chiral resolution require the use of an optically active agent.

We propose a method for chiral separation in straight microchannels that uses symmetry breaking properties of the flow without the need for a chiral agent. The method applies the known separation effect in shear flow to a microchannel environment and combines it with an asymmetric flow profile. This new method allows the separation of chiral particles by their migration speed along the channel and by their spatial distribution within the channel's cross-section.

Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) simulations show that neither the hydrodynamic interactions with the chanel walls nor of the particles with each other disturb the separation process. The method works best for chiral particles with a low rotational diffusion coefficient, e.g. particles with a large aspect ratio.