Dynamics of spark cavitation bubbles in a microchamber

Abstract

In recent years, more and more actuators based on cavitation bubbles are developed for microfluidic chips to implement various functions, such as sorting cells and mixing the flows. However, the dynamic properties of cavitation bubbles in microfluidic chips have not been systematically studied. Using voltage-controlled sparks to trigger cavitation bubbles in a microfluidic chamber, this work studies the relationship between the bubble size and the input energy, the effect of the aqueous solution conductivity on the bubble size, the repeated spark actions, and the necessity of the buffer flow to keep the repeated cavitation steady. The findings in this work reveal how to generate individual cavitation bubble inside microfluidic chips in a controllable way, which can contribute to creating new microfluidic actuators driven by cavitation bubbles.