A novel mixing method for levitated particles using electrostatic fields

Abstract

• Particle mixing system using electrostatic forces and vibrations is developed. • Charged particles are continuously fed from two symmetrically arranged devices. • Particles with opposite polarity are homogeneously mixed instantaneously. • Mixing mechanism is elucidated by numerical calculations. • Shannon entropy for mixing two types of particles is 0.96. A continuous particle mixing system using electrostatic forces and vibrations was developed. The system consists of two symmetrically arranged devices. The same or different types of charged particles were continuously fed from each device in a dispersed state and mixed instantaneously in the space between devices. When charged particles with opposite polarities were fed from each device by changing the direction of the electric field, the particles were homogeneously mixed. The electric field and particle trajectories were numerically calculated to elucidate the particle-mixing mechanism. Furthermore, the mixing state of the particles was evaluated quantitatively using Shannon entropy.