We created artificial cilia and demonstrated that such cilia successfully pump fluid in a microfluidic device. The cilia were assembled from micron-sized superparamagnetic beads and pre-manufactured trenches in a photoresist layer were used to assist the beads to form long chains. The beads were held together by an external magnetic field that was also used to drive the cilia in a periodic but asymmetric manner. We observed generated fluid flow above the ciliated surface, measured the fluid flow velocity and determined the velocity profile as a function of beating parameters.
COBISS.SI-ID: 23251239
Optical tweezers are essential in experimental soft-matter physics, not only because they enable manipulation of microparticles but also measurements of forces in pN regime. However, before each measurement optical tweezers have to be calibrated – the optical potential measured and the stiffness of the trap determined. We developed a programme that enables easy and rapid calibration based on observation of Brownian motion of a trapped particle. This method enables simple calibration before each experiment making the measurement more reliable.
COBISS.SI-ID: 23912487