Miniaturization/Lab on Chip for Energy Applications

Energy has become a ubiquitous issue globally and its sustainability demands incessant concern. Lab on Chip (LOC), or otherwise micro–total analysis system (μ-TAS), are miniaturized handheld and portable devices, that unifies various analyses and operations from interdisciplinary fields of science and technology (such as physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, fluidics, electronics, biosensors, optics, nanotechnology etc.) on a single chip, and serves propitious in terms of time, on-the-go and in-the-field diagnostics, low density, speed, minuscule samples, cost, efficiency, sensitivity, ergonomics, space and so forth. In this chapter, a comprehensive study has been done on LOC technology and its system components. LOC holds diverse range of applications in the biological, medical, chemical, energy and environmental fields, which includes medical diagnostics, devices and treatments, drug development, organ-on-chip and integrated tissue engineering, single cell analysis, three dimensional (3D) cell culture, DNA sequencing, protein analysis, in energy, biofuels and fuel extraction, digital microfluidics, sample preparation, micro-separation technologies and environmental and food scrutiny for health and security. In this book chapter, efforts have been taken to discuss the global research projects undergone recently on the LOC technologies for energy based applications. Nowadays, micro or nano energy storage devices are grabbing increased attention to meet the demand for better power supply required in the fast-growing miniaturized and portable electronic devices and wireless sensor networks. Henceforth, recent advancement in the micro and nano energy storage devices such as supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries, on-chip capacitors etc. has been reviewed. Finally, the possible future scope along with the challenges of this LOC in energy sectors has also been furnished.