Journal
MICROMACHINES
Volume 7, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
MDPI AG
DOI: 10.3390/mi7080139
Keywords
reconfigurable microfluidics; inertial microfluidics; microparticle separation; fluid mixing
Categories
Funding
- Pioneer Research Center Program through National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea
- Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP) [2013M3C1A3064777]
- NRF - Korea government (MSIP) [2014R1A2A2A09052449, 2015R1C1A1A01053990]
- UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), Korea [1.160053.01]
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2013M3C1A3064777, 2014R1A2A2A09052449, 2015R1C1A1A01053990] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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Microfluidics is an engineering tool used to control and manipulate fluid flows, with practical applications for lab-on-a-chip, point-of-care testing, and biological/medical research. However, microfluidic platforms typically lack the ability to create a fluidic duct, having an arbitrary flow path, and to change the path as needed without additional design and fabrication processes. To address this challenge, we present a simple yet effective approach for facile, on-demand reconfiguration of microfluidic channels using flexible polymer tubing. The tubing provides both a well-defined, cross-sectional geometry to allow reliable fluidic operation and excellent flexibility to achieve a high degree of freedom for reconfiguration of flow pathways. We demonstrate that microparticle separation and fluid mixing can be successfully implemented by reconfiguring the shape of the tubing. The tubing is coiled around a 3D-printed barrel to make a spiral microchannel with a constant curvature for inertial separation of microparticles. Multiple knots are also made in the tubing to create a highly tortuous flow path, which induces transverse secondary flows, Dean flows, and, thus, enhances the mixing of fluids. The reconfigurable microfluidics approach, with advantages including low-cost, simplicity, and ease of use, can serve as a promising complement to conventional microfabrication methods, which require complex fabrication processes with expensive equipment and lack a degree of freedom for reconfiguration.
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