Modeling of the kinetics of capture of pathogens enhanced by a Marangoni flow
Abstract
Our work concerns a microsystem for biodiagnostics and biorecognition which we have called a "Marangoni micropump" [1]. It is aimed at the detection of specific molecules (analytes) suspended in a liquid sample (droplet). Inducing a flow inside the liquid using no moving parts or no mechanical device is particularly interesting when the liquid volume is very small. The Marangoni convective transport increases the transfer of the molecules on the detector reactive surface. In order to estimate the binding efficiency increase due to the Marangoni flow, a 2D numerical model has been set up with the Finite Element Method. The calculation is done in two steps : (1) calculation of the velocity field inside the droplet due to the Marangoni effect, (2) calculation of the concentration of the analytes using the velocity field from step (1) together with the concentration decrease by capture at the reactive surface. The frrst step algorithm has already been published [2], the second step is added here to complete the calculation.
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