The Nanoμlab

The NanoμLab is a unique micronanofluidic facility at ISTO (Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orléans, France) to investigate coupled processes in porous media and address the societal and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

At ISTO we are fabricating micromodels (i.e. microfluidics devices) whose etched patterns are of variable complexity ranging from single micro-channels to patterns representative of natural porous media, to micro-reservoirs containing reactive minerals grains.

A major asset of the Nanoμlab is the use of advanced imaging and metrology techniques along with microfluidic experiments. The platform is equipped with micro-Raman and infrared spectroscopy instruments to monitor chemical evolution of the system. We also master high-resolution measurements of the fluid microdynamics including tracking of fluid-fluid interfaces, measures of liquid film thicknesses, and velocity fields obtained by micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (micro-PIV) technique (see some previous results here).

This innovative platform is a central element of the TRACE-it project that will be improved continuously to stay at the frontier of measurement capabilities.

In 2021, ISTO NanoμLab joins the ECCSEL consortium that gives access to the best carbon dioxide capture and storage research facilities in Europe, https://www.eccsel.org/.