Brownian and advective dynamics in microflow studied by coherent X-ray scattering experiments

Combining microfluidics with coherent X-ray illumination offers the possibility to not only measure the structure but also the dynamics of flowing samples in a single-scattering experiment. Here, the power of this combination is demonstrated by studying the advective and Brownian dynamics of colloidal suspensions in microflow of different geometries. Using an experimental setup with a fast two-dimensional detector and performing X-ray correlation spectroscopy by calculating two-dimensional maps of the intensity auto-correlation functions, it was possible to evaluate the sample structure and furthermore to characterize the detailed flow behavior, including flow geometry, main flow directions, advective flow velocities and diffusive dynamics. By scanning a microfocused X-ray beam over a microfluidic device, the anisotropic auto-correlation functions of driven colloidal suspensions in straight, curved and constricted microchannels were mapped with the spatial resolution of the X-ray beam. This method has not only a huge potential for studying flow patterns in complex fluids but also to generally characterize anisotropic dynamics in materials.