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Updated: Sep 29, 2025

Fabrication, Operation and Flow Visualization in Surface-acoustic-wave-driven Acoustic-counterflow Microfluidics
Published on: August 27, 2013
Viscoelastic Particle Focusing and Separation in a Spiral Channel
Haidong Feng1, Alexander R Jafek1, Bonan Wang2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Abstract:
As one type of non-Newtonian fluid, viscoelastic fluids exhibit unique properties that contribute to particle lateral migration in confined microfluidic channels, leading to opportunities for particle manipulation and separation. In this paper, particle focusing in viscoelastic flow is studied in a wide range of polyethylene glycol (PEO) concentrations in aqueous solutions. Polystyrene beads with diameters from 3 to 20 μm are tested, and the variation of particle focusing position is explained by the coeffects of inertial flow, viscoelastic flow, and Dean flow. We showed that particle focusing position can be predicted by analyzing the force balance in the microchannel, and that particle separation resolution can be improved in viscoelastic flows.
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