Abstract
Biochemical calorimeter with MEMS thermopile sensors have been studied for monitoring the detailed process of the biochemical reactions with a minute sample. We have developed a flow-type biochemical calorimeter which can measure the thermal reactions through the whole biochemical processes. The flow-type calorimeter consists of a MEMS differential thermopile sensor, a pair of micro channel reactors in a PDMS layer and a three-fold thermostat chamber. The flow-type calorimeter was tested with the dilution of NaCl aqueous solution to water. And the tests showed that the flow-type calorimeter can detect exo- and endothermic reaction over 250 nW for solution flow rate of 0.05〜1μl/min with the settling time of about 5 minutes. Moreover we also noted the unique method of making dramatic progress of throughput in calorimetry, called "Active calorimetry". It was confirmed that the active calorimetry can enhance the response 10 times higher.
