Valve technology is one of the important elements in micro or nanofluidic control. Many valve technologies have been realized for microfluidic control, by which the applications of microfluidic devices have expanded. However, valve technology for nanofluidic control (nanovalves) is still challenging due to the ultrasmall size (100 nm scale) of the nanochannels. We propose a novel nanovalve that utilizes nanobubbles. The entire nanochannel surface is made hydrophobic by surface modification. Nanobubbles are generated by light and removed in the nanochannels. The basic principle of nanobubble generation and removal was confirmed, and the valve function was confirmed by the introduction/cessation of pure water, which led to a change in the concentration of a fluorescent solution after mixing with the pure water. As a result, the high performance (70 ms response time and 400 kPa pressure capacity) of this simple nanovalve was demonstrated.

阀门技术是微流控或纳流控中的重要元素之一。已经实现了用于微流体控制的许多阀技术，由此扩展了微流体装置的应用。然而，由于纳米通道的超小尺寸（100 nm尺度），用于纳米流体控制（nanovalves）的阀门技术仍然具有挑战性。我们提出了一种利用纳米气泡的新型纳米阀。通过表面改性使整个纳米通道表面疏水。纳米气泡是由光产生的，并在纳米通道中被去除。证实了纳米气泡产生和去除的基本原理，并且通过引入/停止纯水来确认阀功能，这导致在与纯水混合后荧光溶液的浓度发生变化。因此，