Hydrodynamic Cavitation through “Labs on a Chip”: From Fundamentals to Applications

Abstract

Monitoring hydrodynamic cavitation of liquids through “labs on a chip” (i.e. microchannels with a shrinkage, such as microdiaphragms or microventuris) is an improvement in experimental approaches devoted to study the mechanisms involved in these multiphase flows. The small sizes of the reactors do not require big substructures. Flow rates of around 1 L/h make possible the characterisation of rare, toxic or expensive pure fluids or mixtures. Moreover, because of that microfluidic approach, an unique inception of the cavitation from a laminar flow regime is also possible, that provides precious databases for simulation or modelisation. Lastly, “labs on a chip” are an extremely versatile solution to perform novel experiments, as they are embeddable in tools basically designed to proceed with small samples (confocal microscopy, spectroscopy). We present here a summary of the former experiments performed by our team, concerning the fundamental aspects of hydrodynamic cavitation in a microchannel. We have recorded, with thermosensitive nanoparticles dispersed in water, the thermal signature of the growth and collapse of bubbles. We were also able to monitor the cavitation flow regime from a laminar single liquid phase. We are currently involved in applicative studies of hydrodynamic cavitation in microchannels, and preliminary results concerning liquid phase exfoliation of graphene will be also presented.