Abstract
A T-shaped micromixer featuring electroosmotic flow with heterogeneous charged surface patches on the channel walls was analyzed, and an improved design was proposed to enhance mixing performance. Numerical analysis was performed using steady Navier-Stokes equations with an additional electrokinetic body force. The numerical results for species concentration were validated with available experimental data. A parametric analysis of the micromixer was performed by varying channel height, channel width, patch width, and externally applied voltage. The effects of these parameters on the flow structure and mixing performance were analyzed in detail. A quantitative measurement based upon the mass variance was employed to quantify the mixing performance. Numerical results of the parametric study were used to propose an improved micromixer design with spacing between adjacent charged patches. The proposed design provided a more favorable flow structure to allow for enhanced mixing performance.
Highlights
Noticeable advancements in microfluidics have been achieved in application to micro total analysis systems and lab-on-a-chip devices [1]
Since characteristic dimensions of microfluidic systems are typically in μm scale, flow regime in such small dimensions is characterized by low Reynolds and Peclet numbers, and the mixing primarily relies on the slow process of molecular diffusion rather than advection
Enhancing the efficiency of the mixing process is the primary objective in designing micromixers for μTAS applications to ensure the reduction in analysis time and size of the devices
Summary
Noticeable advancements in microfluidics have been achieved in application to micro total analysis systems (μTAS) and lab-on-a-chip devices [1]. Since characteristic dimensions of microfluidic systems are typically in μm scale, flow regime in such small dimensions is characterized by low Reynolds and Peclet numbers, and the mixing primarily relies on the slow process of molecular diffusion rather than advection This requires larger channel length and mixing time to achieve homogenization of the species. A configuration of staggered heterogeneous patches in an electroosmotic micromixer was investigated numerically to develop a better understanding of the mixing mechanism inside the micromixer and to enhance the performance of the micromixer This pattern of patches was used in a previous work [8], where an in-depth analysis of flow structure and impact of surface heterogeneities on mixing performance was not performed. Findings of this study were utilized to develop a micromixer design which can provide enhanced mixing performance over shorter channel length
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