Web Release Date: January 3,
Controlled Mixing in Microfluidic Systems Using Bacterial Chemotaxis
and
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, and Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
Received for review August 8, 2006. Accepted November 9, 2006.
Abstract:
We demonstrate the use of Escherichia coli and their
chemotactic characteristics to enhance mixing in a microchannel in a controlled and bi-directional manner. The
presence of a chemoattractant in one arm of a three-junction microchannel results in an asymmetric increase
in the effective diffusion coefficient of extremely high
molecular weight TMR-Dextran (MW 2 000 000), which
rises linearly with the concentration of attractant from a
baseline value of 8-42 
m2/s at a concentration of 0.1
M. The response to a repellent is similar, with the opposite
bias.
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