Phase-controlled field-effect micromixing using AC electroosmosis

Abstract

The exploration and application of electrokinetic techniques in micro total analysis systems have become ubiquitous in recent years, and scientists are expanding the use of such techniques in areas where comparable active or passive methods are not as successful. In this work, for the first time, we utilize the concept of AC electroosmosis to design a phase-controlled field-effect micromixer that benefits from a three-finger sinusoidally shaped electrodes. Analogous to field-effect transistor devices, the principle of operation for the proposed micromixer is governed by the source-gate and source-drain voltage potentials that are modulated by introducing a phase lag between the driving electrodes. At an optimized flow rate and biasing scheme, we demonstrate that the source, gate, and drain voltage phase relations can be configured such that the micromixer switches from an unmixed state (phase shift of 0°) to a mixed state (phase shift of 180°). High mixing efficiencies beyond 90% was achieved at a volumetric flow rate of 4 µL/min corresponding to ~13.9 mm/s at optimized voltage excitation conditions. Finally, we employed the proposed micromixer for the synthesis of nanoscale lipid-based drug delivery vesicles through the process of electrohydrodynamic-mediated nanoprecipitation. The phase-controlled electrohydrodynamic mixing utilized for the nanoprecipitation technique proved that nanoparticles of improved monodispersity and concentration can be produced when mixing efficiency is enhanced by tuning the phase shifts between electrodes.