Nano fluidics is the study of the behaviour, manipulation, and control of fluids that are confined to structures of nanometre (typically 1–100 nm) characteristic dimensions (1 nm = 10−9 m). Fluids confined in these structures exhibit physical behaviors not observed in larger structures, such as those of micrometer dimensions and above, because the characteristic physical scaling lengths of the fluid, (e.g. Debye length, hydrodynamic radius) very closely coincide with the dimensions of the nanostructure itself.

When structures approach the size regime corresponding to molecular scaling lengths, new physical constraints are placed on the behavior of the fluid. For example, these physical constraints induce regions of the fluid to exhibit new properties not observed in bulk, e.g. vastly increased viscosity near the pore wall; they may effect changes in thermodynamic properties and may also alter the chemical reactivity of species at the fluid-solid interface.

Applications

• Because of the small size of the fluidic conduits, nanofluidic structures are naturally applied in situations demanding that samples be handled in exceedingly small quantities, including Coulter counting, analytical separations and determinations of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, and facile handling of mass-limited samples.
• One of the more promising areas of nano fluidics is its potential for integration into microfluidic systems, i.e. micro total analytical systems or lab-on-a-chip structures.
• For instance, NCAMs(nanocapillary array membrane ), when incorporated into microfluidic devices, can reproducibly perform digital switching, allowing transfer of fluid from one microfluidic channel to another, selectivity separate and transfer analytes by size and mass, mix reactants efficiently, and separate fluids with disparate characteristics.
• In addition, there is a natural analogy between the fluid handling capabilities of nanofluidic structures and the ability of electronic components to control the flow of electrons and holes.
• This analogy has been used to realize active electronic functions such as rectification and field-effect and bipolar transistor action with ionic currents. Application of nano fluidics is also to nano-optics for producing tuneable micro lens array.