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Dynamically tunable elasto-inertial particle focusing and sorting in microfluidics.

Yinning Zhou1, Zhichao Ma1, Ye Ai1

  • 1Pillar of Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore. aiye@sutd.edu.sg.

Lab on a Chip
|January 3, 2020
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces tunable elasto-inertial particle focusing and sorting using non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluids in microfluidics. This method allows flexible separation thresholds without altering device geometry, enhancing biomedical applications.

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Area of Science:

  • Microfluidics
  • Biophysics
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Inertial microfluidics offers simple, high-throughput particle separation but lacks tunable thresholds.
  • Current devices are fixed to specific cut-off sizes, limiting adaptability for diverse applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop size-tunable elasto-inertial particle focusing and sorting in microfluidic devices.
  • To achieve adaptable separation thresholds by utilizing non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluids.

Main Methods:

  • Employed reverse wavy microchannel structures.
  • Investigated the interplay of inertial lift, Dean drag, and elastic lift forces.
  • Utilized seven sizes of fluorescent microspheres (0.3–15 μm) to study flow rate, fluid concentration, and particle size effects.

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Main Results:

  • Demonstrated size-tunable particle focusing with adjustable equilibrium positions.
  • Achieved effective sorting of particle mixtures into small, intermediate, and large subpopulations.
  • Showcased controllable tunability of separation thresholds without device modification.

Conclusions:

  • Elasto-inertial focusing in viscoelastic fluids provides tunable particle sorting capabilities.
  • This approach overcomes the limitations of fixed cut-off sizes in passive inertial microfluidics.
  • The developed method holds significant potential for various biomedical research applications.