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A Case for Magneto Hydro Dynamics (MHD)


 In this paper, I review some of our work on the use of magneto hydrodynamics (MHD) for pumping, controlling, and stirring fluids in microdevices. In many applications, one operates with liquids that are at least slightly conductive such as biological fluids. By patterning electrodes inside flow conduits and subjecting these electrodes to potential differences, one can induce electric currents in the liquid. In the presence of a magnetic field, a Lorentz force is generated in a direction that is perpendicular to both the magnetic and electric fields. Since one has a great amount of freedom in patterning the electrodes, one can induce forces in various directions so as to generate complex flows including “guided” flows in virtual, wall-less channels. The magnetic flux generators can be either embedded in the device or be external. Despite their unfavorable scaling (the magnitude of the forces is proportional to the fluid volume), MHD offers many advantages such as the flexibility of applying forces in any desired direction and the ability to adjust the magnitude of the forces by adjusting either the electric and/or magnetic fields. We provide examples of (i) MHD pumps; (ii) controlled networks of conduits in which each conduit is equipped with a MHD actuator and by controlling the voltage applied to each actuator, one can direct the liquid to flow in any desired way without a need for valves; and (iii) MHD stirrers including stirrers that exhibit chaotic advection.