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A layer of self-assembled 1-octadecanethiol was used to fabricate a palladium (Pd)/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle-based flexible hydrogen sensor with enhanced response and high selectivity at room temperature. A palladium film was first deposited using DC sputtering technique and later annealed to form palladium nanoparticles. The formation of uniform, surfactant-free palladium nanoparticles contributed to improved sensor response towards hydrogen gas at room temperature. The obtained sensor response was higher than for previously reported room temperature Pd/ZnO sensors. Furthermore, the use of the polymer membrane suppressed the sensor's response to methane, moisture, ethanol, and acetone, resulting in the selective detection of hydrogen in the presence of the common interfering species. This study shows a viable low-cost fabrication pathway for highly selective room temperature flexible hydrogen sensors for hydrogen-powered vehicles and other clean energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxis has been reported in many cells and microorganisms, due to their tendency to migrate toward favorable physical situations and avoid damage and death. Thermotaxis and chemotaxis are two of the major types of taxis that naturally occur on a daily basis. Understanding the details of the thermo- and chemotactic behavioral response of cells and microorganisms is necessary to reveal the body function, diagnosing diseases and developing therapeutic treatments. Considering the length-scale and range of effectiveness of these phenomena, advances in microfluidics have facilitated taxis experiments and enhanced the precision of controlling and capturing microscale samples. Microfabrication of fluidic chips could bridge the gap between in vitro and in situ biological assays, specifically in taxis experiments. Numerous efforts have been made to develop, fabricate and implement novel microchips to conduct taxis experiments and increase the accuracy of the results. The concepts originated from thermo- and chemotaxis, inspired novel ideas applicable to microfluidics as well, more specifically, thermocapillarity and chemocapillarity (or solutocapillarity) for the manipulation of single- and multi-phase fluid flows in microscale and fluidic control elements such as valves, pumps, mixers, traps, etc. This paper starts with a brief biological overview of the concept of thermo- and chemotaxis followed by the most recent developments in microchips used for thermo- and chemotaxis experiments. The last section of this review focuses on the microfluidic devices inspired by the concept of thermo- and chemotaxis. Various microfluidic devices that have either been used for, or inspired by thermo- and chemotaxis are reviewed categorically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the past and recent studies on thermocapillarity in relation to microfluidics. The role of thermocapillarity as the change of surface tension due to temperature gradient in developing Marangoni flow in liquid films and conclusively bubble and drop actuation is discussed. The thermocapillary-driven mass transfer (the so-called Benard-Marangoni effect) can be observed in liquid films, reservoirs, bubbles and droplets that are subject to the temperature gradient. Since the contribution of a surface tension-driven flow becomes more prominent when the scale becomes smaller as compared to a pressure-driven flow, microfluidic applications based on thermocapillary effect are gaining attentions recently. The effect of thermocapillarity on the flow pattern inside liquid films is the initial focus of this review. Analysis of the relation between evaporation and thermocapillary instability approves the effect of Marangoni flow on flow field inside the drop and its evaporation rate. The effect of thermocapillary on producing Marangoni flow inside drops and liquid films, leads to actuation of drops and bubbles due to the drag at the interface, mass conservation, and also gravity and buoyancy in vertical motion. This motion can happen inside microchannels with a closed multiphase medium, on the solid substrate as in solid/liquid interaction, or on top of a carrier liquid film in open microfluidic systems. Various thermocapillary-based microfluidic devices have been proposed and developed for different purposes such as actuation, sensing, trapping, sorting, mixing, chemical reaction, and biological assays throughout the years. A list of the thermocapillary based microfluidic devices along with their characteristics, configurations, limitations, and improvements are presented in this review.