Session: 11-18-01: Fundamental Issues in Fluid Mechanics/Rheology of Nonlinear Materials and Complex Fluids/Plasma Flow

Paper Number: 168181

Exploring Multiscale Porosity in Microfluidics: A Novel Approach to Study Bacterial and Chemical Transport in Complex, Heterogeneous Environments 

The study of bacterial transport and behavior in porous media is essential to understanding a wide range of biological, environmental, and industrial processes. Traditional microfluidic models have provided valuable insights into pore-scale phenomena, but they have primarily focused on systems with single-scale porosity. These models often fail to replicate the complexity of real-world environments, such as the heterogeneous structures found in living tissues, soil, and geological formations, which exhibit multiple porosity scales. In many cases, these environments feature pores that vary in size across several orders of magnitude, from nanometers to millimeters. This limitation has hindered the ability to comprehensively study microbial behavior, fluid dynamics, and chemical transport in systems with complex, multiscale porosity.

Here, we introduce a novel microfluidic platform that integrates multiscale porosity, allowing for the investigation of pore structures that span a wide range of sizes. The incorporation of multiscale porosity enables a more accurate representation of how fluid flows and how chemicals and microorganisms behave in porous environments with heterogeneous pore distributions.

This advanced microfluidic platform provides a powerful tool for studying fluid flow, chemical gradients, and the transport of microorganisms in porous media. Specifically, we focus on bacterial chemotaxis, the process by which bacteria navigate chemical gradients in their environment. The platform allows for the observation of bacterial behavior across the porous domain and provides insight into how changes in structure of the domain influence microbial movement and response to chemical signals. By examining these interactions at various scales, we can gain a deeper understanding of how bacteria interact with their environment and respond to external stimuli in complex, heterogeneous systems.

Moreover, this platform has broad applications in various fields, including environmental studies, biomedical research, and industrial applications. For instance, in environmental research, it can be used to study the transport of pollutants or nutrients through soil or aquifers. In biomedical contexts, the platform enables the study of microbial dynamics in complex biological environments, such as host-microbe interactions and the formation of biofilms in complex structures. Additionally, the technology has potential applications in industrial settings, such as optimizing the transport of chemicals in porous substrates or improving bioreactor designs for microbial processes.

In summary, this novel microfluidic platform with multiscale porosity offers a comprehensive and realistic approach to studying bacterial and chemical transport in complex environments. By incorporating multiple scales of porosity, it provides valuable insights that enhance our understanding of microbial behavior, fluid dynamics, and chemical transport in heterogeneous systems, with wide-ranging implications for environmental, biomedical, and industrial research.

Presenting Author: Mehdi Salek MIT

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Salek is the lecturer and the lead instructor for the MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) Living Machines program.

Authors:

Mehdi Salek MIT
Francesco Carrara ETH Zurich
Roman Stocker ETH Zurich
Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez ETH Zurich