Thermogravitational Microcolumn for Determining the Thermal Diffusion Coefficient of Biological Fluids and Synthetic and Biological Colloidal Fluids

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The invention is a thermogravitational microcolumn device designed to accurately determine the thermal diffusion coefficient (thermodiffusion) of biological fluids and both synthetic and biological colloidal fluids. The device uses a small vertically oriented chamber with transparent, thermally conductive sides, and applies a controlled temperature gradient across the fluid. This compact design allows precise measurement of how different fluid components separate under a temperature difference, requiring only minimal sample volumes.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Enhanced analysis in biochemical and biomedical laboratories to understand thermodiffusion in DNA, proteins, or other biological fluids.
• Quality control and formulation studies for colloidal products in pharmaceuticals, food, or cosmetics.
• Research in polymer science to measure separation phenomena for optimizing manufacturing processes.
• Improvement and verification of numerical models for thermodiffusion in microfluidic or MEMS devices.
• Calibration and cross-validation of other thermal diffusion measurement techniques such as laser beam deflection or fluorescence monitoring.
• Academic research in physical chemistry and fluid dynamics to study transport properties in multi-component fluids.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Drastic reduction in the sample volume needed for analysis (up to 99% compared to previous systems), saving costly or rare fluids.
• Compact, robust, and easy-to-use design suited for laboratory workflows and integration into analysis systems.
• High measurement accuracy due to the control of temperature gradients and elimination of convection artifacts.
• Faster testing cycles because of reduced chamber size and rapid thermal equilibrium.
• Supports a broad range of fluids, both biological and synthetic, expanding its applicability across various industries.
• Eliminates the need for high-pressure systems (works at atmospheric pressure), reducing operational costs and complexity.

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Patent Abstract

Microcolumn for determining the thermal diffusion coefficient of biological fluids and synthetic and biological colloidal fluids, comprising a chamber where the fluid to be analysed is disposed, which is disposed in a substantially vertical position, a cover (15) on each side of the chamber, both covers (15) withstanding different temperatures, so that a temperature gradient is present between both faces of the chamber, a base plate (1) that comprises the chamber, a transparent means disposed on each side of the chamber, the chamber being delimited by the base plate and the transparent means, and at least one viewing hole (15a) so that said chamber can be viewed from the outside through at least one of the transparent means.