Cornell researchers have developed a chip that creates and steers microscopic bubbles on demand, a laboratory advance that could help scientists control fluid movement in miniature devices.
The study, published Oct. 14 in Science Advances, describes a 3-millimeter platform that forms hydrogen bubbles on a grid of electrodes. Ultrasound makes the bubbles vibrate, moving fluid in directions the researchers can program in real time.
Zhiyuan Zhang, a Cornell physics postdoctoral fellow and the study's first author, said the team can change the bubbles' sizes, numbers and positions to control flow. The researchers tested a nine-electrode array and found that different bubble arrangements could send fluid in straight or curved paths.
The approach avoids the difficulty of trapping existing bubbles, said Itai Cohen, a Cornell physics professor whose lab developed the device. If a bubble stops working, the researchers can release it and form a replacement.
The work remains experimental. The team said programmable fluid control could eventually inform microfluidic devices and tiny robots, including potential medical applications, but the release does not report a clinical device or human testing. Cornell said the National Science Foundation and Army Research Office supported the research.
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