Temperature Measurement of Microfluid Using Core/Shell Composite Nanocrystals

Abstract

Optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals vary with temperature; e.g., luminescence efficiency/PL intensity decreases with increasing temperature. It is then possible to utilize these nanocrystals as a temperature sensor for non-intrusive scanning/construction of 3-D temperature distribution in a microchannel. In this work, we evaluated the applicability of CdSe/ZnSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals as a 3D temperature sensor. Using this temperature-sensing material synthesized and dispersed in a solution flowing through a locally heated microchannel, we measured the liquid temperature distribution and compared the measurement results with the corresponding numerical simulation.