AC electroosmotic micromixer for chemical processing in a microchannel

Lab Chip. 2006 Apr;6(4):550-4. doi: 10.1039/b515852d. Epub 2006 Feb 14.

Abstract

A rapid micromixer of fluids in a microchannel is presented. The mixer uses AC electroosmotic flow, which is induced by applying an AC voltage to a pair of coplanar meandering electrodes configured in parallel to the channel. To demonstrate performance of the mixer, dilution experiments were conducted using a dye solution in a channel of 120 microm width. Rapid mixing was observed for flow velocity up to 12 mm s(-1). The mixing time was 0.18 s, which was 20-fold faster than that of diffusional mixing without an additional mixing mechanism. Compared with the performance of reported micromixers, the present mixer worked with a shorter mixing length, particularly at low Peclet numbers (Pe < 2 x 10(3)).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Diffusion
  • Electrodes
  • Fluorescein / chemistry
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / methods*
  • Osmosis
  • Rhodamines / chemistry

Substances

  • Rhodamines
  • rhodamine B
  • Fluorescein