Boyd EdwardsRussell and Ruth Bolton WVU Professor
Professor of Physics
B.S., Utah State University, 1980
Ph.D., Stanford University, 1985
West Virginia University
Department of Physics
PO Box 6315
Morgantown, WV 26506-6315
Tel: (304) 293-3422 ext. 1433
Fax: (304) 293-5732
bedwards@wvu.edu
My theoretical research focuses currently on microfluidics, the study of microchannel flows driven by hydrodynamic pressure and applied electric fields. My students and I collaborate closely with experimental research groups to understand the fundamental science behind innovative new technologies in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices, which promise to revolutionalize clinical and forensic analysis. These devices employ microchannels of width 100 microns (comparable to the width of a human hair) and nanocapillary membranes whose 10-nm pores exhibit intriguing charge exclusion effects stemming from incomplete screening of the pore surface charge.
I recently co-invented a technique for separating charged particles in a microchannel. This technique, called traveling-wave electrophoresis, employs electrode arrays to create a traveling longitudinal electric field wave that traps high-mobility particles between wave crests. Our particle-velocity calculations agree with microfluidic experiments and reveal a fascinating spectrum of nonlinear dynamical behavior including high-period orbits, devil’s staircases, period doubling, and chaos with particle velocities that are commensurate with the wave speed.
Other research interests include the nonlinear dynamics of meandering rivers and growing raindrops, convection induced by chemical waves and magnetic fields, distortions of chemical waves by imposed fluid flows, and fragmentation of percolation clusters, a class of spatially random fractals. Research supported by NSF, DOE, and NASA.
Microfluidics theory research group (June 2008)
Back row, from left: Jim Eakins, James Vopal, Jarrod Schiffbauer, Josh Fernandez
Front row, from left: Boyd Edwards, Will Booth, Rob Correll
