Geometrical and flow configurations for enhanced microcantilever detection within a fluidic cell

This work focuses on studying the effect of the flow conditions and the geometric variation of the microcantilever s supporting system on the microcantilever detection capabilities within a fluidic cell for various pertinent parameters. Such parameters include Reynolds number, height of the fluidic cell, surface reaction constant, and the Schmidt number. The results of this investigation show that the flow direction has a profound effect on the normal velocity across the microcantilever due to the presence of the supporting mechanism. In addition, the effect of the Reynolds number and the Schmidt number are also found to be significant on the species transfer characteristics within the fluidic cell. An interesting situation is presented in the present investigation, which relates to the effect of fluidic cell height on mass transfer. The results show that as the height of the fluidic cell decreases, mass transfer enhances due to an increase in the axial velocity along the microcantilever. Moreover, the normal velocity is found to decrease when decreasing the height of the fluidic cell and consequently minimizing any unfavorable microcantilever deflection. Finally, a correlation for the average mass flux along the microcantilever is obtained for various pertinent geometrical and flow configuration parameters. This work paves the road for researchers in the area microcantilever based biosensors to design efficient microsenor systems that exhibit minimal errors in the measurements. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.