Abstract
This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of a novel passive micromixer based on the lamination of fluid layers. Lamination-based mixers benefit from increasing the contact surface between two fluid phases by enhancing molecular diffusion to achieve a faster mixing. Novel three-dimensional split and recombine (SAR) structures are proposed to generate fluid laminations. Numerical simulations were conducted to model the mixer performance. Furthermore, experiments were conducted using dyes to observe fluid laminations and evaluate the proposed mixer’s characteristics. Mixing quality was experimentally obtained by means of image-based mixing index (MI) measurement. The multi-layer device was fabricated utilizing the Xurography method, which is a simple and low-cost method to fabricate 3D microfluidic devices. Mixing indexes of 96% and 90% were obtained at Reynolds numbers of 0.1 and 1, respectively. Moreover, the device had an MI value of 67% at a Reynolds number of 10 (flow rate of 116 µL/min for each inlet). The proposed micromixer, with its novel design and fabrication method, is expected to benefit a wide range of lab-on-a-chip applications, due to its high efficiency, low cost, high throughput and ease of fabrication.
Highlights
Miniaturization is of great importance in science and technology
Numerous applications of microfluidic devices are developed by research groups and technological companies
Developing cost-effective, but efficient microfluidic devices is substantial to pave the way to mass production of microfluidic devices
Summary
Miniaturization is of great importance in science and technology. Microfluidics focuses on the field of miniaturized fluidic devices fabricated by the methods of microfabrication. Kim and coworkers [27] combined two mixing mechanisms, “split and recombine” and “chaotic mixing”, called serpentine laminating micromixer (SLM) They employed F-shaped structures in a two-layer design to laminate fluid layers over each other and make chaotic advections at high-Reynolds. Martinez-Lopez et al [23] fabricated disposable micromixing arrays based on the Xurography technique They designed a planar split and recombine mixer with minimum channel width of 500 μm. In the case of 3D micromixers, various microfabrication methods have been employed to fabricate 3D mixing structures, such as: Soft lithography [30,39,40], injection molding [27], micro-milling [20,41], additive manufacturing [14,35,42], and etching [31,32].
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