Micromixer utilizing electrokinetic instability-induced shedding effect

作者：Tai Chang Hsien; Yang Ruey Jen; Huang Min Zhong; Liu Chia Wei; Tsai Chien Hsiung; Fu Lung Ming^*

来源：Electrophoresis, 2006, 27(24): 4982-4990.

DOI：10.1002/elps.200500900

• electrokinetic instability
• microfluidic mixer
• 45 degrees parallelogram barriers

This paper presents a T-shaped micromixer featuring 45 degrees parallelogram barriers (PBs) within the mixing channel. The presented device obtains a rapid mixing of two sample fluids with conductivity ratio of 10:1 (sample concentration: running buffer concentration) by means of the electrokinetic instability-induced shedding effects which are produced when a direct current (DC) electric field of an appropriate intensity is applied. The presented device uses a single high-voltage power source to simultaneously drive and mix the sample fluids. The effectiveness of the mixer is characterized experimentally as a function of the applied electrical field intensity and the extent to which the PBs obstruct the mixing channel. The experimental results indicate that the mixing performance reaches 91% at a cross-section located 2.3 mm downstream of the T-junction when the barriers obstruct 4/5 of the channel width and an electrical field of 300 V/cm is applied. The micromixing method presented in this study provides a simple low-cost solution to mixing problems in lab-on-a-chip systems.

• 出版日期2006-12