"Transport Processes" is a core yet challenging course in chemical engineering, with the primary difficulty lying in its heavy reliance on theoretical mathematical descriptions to elucidate the laws of momentum, heat, and mass transfer. Students often struggle to intuitively understand diffusion mass transfer phenomena at the microscale, leading to rote memorization without constructing a corresponding physical picture. To address this pedagogical challenge, we turn to actual microfluidic experiments rather than simulations or theoretical derivations, and propose two visualization-based teaching cases that enable in-situ observation of diffusion at the microscale. The first case utilizes the one-dimensional diffusion of fluorescent nanoparticles in a microchannel, while the second case involves the diffusion of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas into a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution, combined with high-speed microscopic imaging and image analysis to determine the diffusion coefficient based on Fick's second law. Both cases transform the theoretical diffusion differential equations into intuitive, dynamic concentration distribution evolution images. Post-teaching questionnaire surveys indicate that 96.30% of the students greatly favored these visualization cases, and the 98.15% of students believed that it improved learning efficiency. More than 90% of the students considered the visualized cases relatively easy to understand. The survey results indicate that introducing microfluidic visualization technology into "Transport Processes" teaching effectively builds a cognitive bridge between mathematical formulations and physical reality, stimulates students' learning interest, reduces the difficulty of conceptual comprehension, and improves lecture atmosphere. This teaching innovation provides a novel perspective for the instruction of the mass transfer module within the "Transport Processes" course.
| Published in | Education Journal (Volume 15, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11 |
| Page(s) | 133-139 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Transport Processes, Visualization, Microscale, Molecular Diffusion Equation
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
can be described as a function of
:
(5)
can be calculated from
in the equation by measuring the pH value. Based on the above calculations, without considering the reaction-dominated zone between the gas–liquid interface and the diffusion region in the microchannel, and assuming that NO2 undergoes one-dimensional diffusion in the H2O2 system within the microchannel, Fick’s second law can be applied to determine the diffusion coefficient:
(6)
(7) Items | Recognition Rate |
|---|---|
Need for innovative teaching content | 94.44% |
Satisfaction with the visualized cases | 96.30% |
Satisfaction with enhancing learning interest | 98.15% |
NO2 | Nitrogen Dioxide |
H2O2 | Hydrogen Peroxide |
OBE | Outcome Based Education |
CFD | Computational Fluid Dynamics |
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APA Style
Jia, G., Bao, B. (2026). Case Exploration of Visualization of Diffusion Mass Transfer at Microscale — Teaching Innovation in Transport Processes. Education Journal, 15(4), 133-139. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11
ACS Style
Jia, G.; Bao, B. Case Exploration of Visualization of Diffusion Mass Transfer at Microscale — Teaching Innovation in Transport Processes. Educ. J. 2026, 15(4), 133-139. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11
@article{10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11,
author = {Guangzuo Jia and Bo Bao},
title = {Case Exploration of Visualization of Diffusion Mass Transfer at Microscale — Teaching Innovation in Transport Processes},
journal = {Education Journal},
volume = {15},
number = {4},
pages = {133-139},
doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20261504.11},
abstract = {"Transport Processes" is a core yet challenging course in chemical engineering, with the primary difficulty lying in its heavy reliance on theoretical mathematical descriptions to elucidate the laws of momentum, heat, and mass transfer. Students often struggle to intuitively understand diffusion mass transfer phenomena at the microscale, leading to rote memorization without constructing a corresponding physical picture. To address this pedagogical challenge, we turn to actual microfluidic experiments rather than simulations or theoretical derivations, and propose two visualization-based teaching cases that enable in-situ observation of diffusion at the microscale. The first case utilizes the one-dimensional diffusion of fluorescent nanoparticles in a microchannel, while the second case involves the diffusion of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas into a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution, combined with high-speed microscopic imaging and image analysis to determine the diffusion coefficient based on Fick's second law. Both cases transform the theoretical diffusion differential equations into intuitive, dynamic concentration distribution evolution images. Post-teaching questionnaire surveys indicate that 96.30% of the students greatly favored these visualization cases, and the 98.15% of students believed that it improved learning efficiency. More than 90% of the students considered the visualized cases relatively easy to understand. The survey results indicate that introducing microfluidic visualization technology into "Transport Processes" teaching effectively builds a cognitive bridge between mathematical formulations and physical reality, stimulates students' learning interest, reduces the difficulty of conceptual comprehension, and improves lecture atmosphere. This teaching innovation provides a novel perspective for the instruction of the mass transfer module within the "Transport Processes" course.},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Case Exploration of Visualization of Diffusion Mass Transfer at Microscale — Teaching Innovation in Transport Processes AU - Guangzuo Jia AU - Bo Bao Y1 - 2026/07/24 PY - 2026 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11 DO - 10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11 T2 - Education Journal JF - Education Journal JO - Education Journal SP - 133 EP - 139 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2327-2619 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261504.11 AB - "Transport Processes" is a core yet challenging course in chemical engineering, with the primary difficulty lying in its heavy reliance on theoretical mathematical descriptions to elucidate the laws of momentum, heat, and mass transfer. Students often struggle to intuitively understand diffusion mass transfer phenomena at the microscale, leading to rote memorization without constructing a corresponding physical picture. To address this pedagogical challenge, we turn to actual microfluidic experiments rather than simulations or theoretical derivations, and propose two visualization-based teaching cases that enable in-situ observation of diffusion at the microscale. The first case utilizes the one-dimensional diffusion of fluorescent nanoparticles in a microchannel, while the second case involves the diffusion of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas into a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution, combined with high-speed microscopic imaging and image analysis to determine the diffusion coefficient based on Fick's second law. Both cases transform the theoretical diffusion differential equations into intuitive, dynamic concentration distribution evolution images. Post-teaching questionnaire surveys indicate that 96.30% of the students greatly favored these visualization cases, and the 98.15% of students believed that it improved learning efficiency. More than 90% of the students considered the visualized cases relatively easy to understand. The survey results indicate that introducing microfluidic visualization technology into "Transport Processes" teaching effectively builds a cognitive bridge between mathematical formulations and physical reality, stimulates students' learning interest, reduces the difficulty of conceptual comprehension, and improves lecture atmosphere. This teaching innovation provides a novel perspective for the instruction of the mass transfer module within the "Transport Processes" course. VL - 15 IS - 4 ER -