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. 2021 Sep 1;15(5):054101.
doi: 10.1063/5.0060908. eCollection 2021 Sep.

The centrifugal viscometer

Chih-Hsin Shih  1 , Chia-Chin Chang  1 , Chung-Yi Liu  1 , Ho-Chin Wu  1
Affiliations

The centrifugal viscometer

Chih-Hsin Shih et al. Biomicrofluidics. .

Abstract

In this study, a viscometer, which can measure the viscosity of low-volume liquids (25 μl) within 30 s, was developed on a centrifugal platform. The centrifugal viscometer consists of a disk platform and a motor. Under disk rotation, centrifugal, Coriolis, and viscosity-induced drag forces result in deflection of liquid flow. The viscosity of the liquid sample is determined by the deflection angle of the liquid, which can be examined through image analysis or visual inspection. The viscosities of a series of Newtonian model fluids were tested by the centrifugal viscometer and the results showed good agreement with the ones tested by a conventional rotational viscometer. Since the centrifugal viscometer only requires a motor to function, the microfluidic disk can be produced in large quantities at a low cost through injection molding, and the deflection angle can be detected through visual inspection, it provides an inexpensive, easy to operate, and portable approach to measure low-volume liquid viscosity.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
(a) The schematic of the disk platform for the centrifugal viscometer. (b) The force analysis on the liquid element. The flow direction is governed by the combined forces among centrifugal, Coriolis, and viscous friction forces. (c) The photo of the experimental setup. (d) The picture of the disk platform during the viscosity measurement.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
The effect of viscosity on the deflection angle of the liquid for the fluidic design with and without the delayed-release channel. The disk was operated from 0 to 2000 rpm under an acceleration of 100 000 rpm/s.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
The effect of liquid viscosity on the deflection angle of the liquid under various rotational speeds. The height of the process window is 2 mm.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
Schematic diagrams and photos of the liquid in the process window of a microfluidic disk when the disk was rotated at (a) 2000, (b) 3000, and (c) 5000 rpm. Flow instability occurs when the rotational speed exceeds 3000 rpm.
FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.
The effect of the liquid viscosity on the deflection angle of the liquid for various process window heights. The disk was operated from 0 to 2000 rpm with an acceleration of 100 000 rpm/s.
FIG. 6.
FIG. 6.
The calibration curve of the centrifugal viscometer. The liquid viscosity can be calculated by the empirical equation of the fitting curve from the deflection angle and viscosity relationship.
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