Microfluidic mixing by magnetic particles: Progress and prospects

Microfluidic systems have enormous potential for enabling point-of-care diagnostics due to a number of advantages, such as low sample volumes, small footprint, low energy requirements, uncomplicated setup, high surface-to-volume ratios, cost-effectiveness, etc. However, fluid mixing operations are constrained by molecular diffusion since the flow is usually in the laminar regime. The slow nature of molecular diffusion is a technological barrier to implementing fluid transformations in a reasonable time. In this context, magnetically actuated micro-mixers of different sizes, shapes, materials, and actuation techniques provide a way to enhance fluid mixing in microfluidic devices. In this paper, we review the currently existing micro-mixing technologies. From a fundamental perspective, the different magnetization models for permanent and induced dipoles are discussed. The single-particle dynamics in steady and oscillating magnetic fields is studied in order to determine the flow generated and the torque exerted on the fluid due to the magnetic particles. The effect of particle interactions, both magnetic and hydrodynamic, is examined.