Swirl-like Acoustofluidic Stirring Facilitates Microscale Reactions in Sessile Droplets

Sessile droplets play a crucial role in the microreactors of biochemical samples. Acoustofluidics provide a non-contact and label-free method for manipulating particles, cells, and chemical analytes in droplets. In the present study, we propose a micro-stirring application based on acoustic swirls in sessile droplets. The acoustic swirls are formed inside the droplets by asymmetric coupling of surface acoustic waves (SAWs). With the merits of the slanted design of the interdigital electrode, the excitation position of SAWs is selective by sweeping in wide frequency ranges, allowing for the droplet position to be customized within the aperture region. We verify the reasonable existence of acoustic swirls in sessile droplets by a combination of simulations and experiments. The different periphery of the droplet meeting with SAWs will produce acoustic streaming phenomena with different intensities. The experiments demonstrate that acoustic swirls formed after SAWs encountering droplet boundaries will be more obvious. The acoustic swirls have strong stirring abilities to rapidly dissolve the yeast cell powder granules. Therefore, acoustic swirls are expected to be an effective means for rapid stirring of biomolecules and chemicals, providing a new approach to micro-stirring in biomedicine and chemistry.