Micro and extended nanofluidic engineering
We have been working on establishing a general-purpose methodology for integrating complex chemical processes on micro chemical chips of several centimeters sizes. In our laboratory we call such processes micro unit operations (MUOs) and continuous flow chemical processes (CFCP). In general, chemical processes can be divided into several simple unit operations, such as mixing, reaction, and separation. MUO is one of these unit operations which can be carried out in the microfluidic channel of several tens to several hundred micrometers. CFCP continuously connects MUOs to create fluid circuits and fulfil chemical processes. This is equivalent to a CPU manufactured by integrating transistors in electronic circuit board. We have succeeded in developing various micro-analytical devices for environmental analysis and immunoanalysis, and in recent years we have applied this methodology to an extended nanospace that is 1000 times smaller than microspace. We are working on the development of innovative analytical devices that utilize these characteristics.