Particle Gathering by a Sidewall-Driven Micromixer

Abstract

A sidewall-driven micromixer is a microfluidic device that can agitate the fluid in the main chamber by deforming the side walls of the main chamber by the driving chamber which is surrounding the main chamber. This has the advantage of being simple in construction, as there is no need to incorporate actuators directly in the flow path. It has been observed that when structures are placed in this chamber, vortices are generated at its edges. In this study, we developed the micromixer capable of gathering particles in one place by using this feature. Based on the referred research on microfluidic devices capable of producing spheroids, teardrop-shaped structures were placed in the chamber in a circular pattern, and it was confirmed that particles with a diameter of 10 μm gathered in the center of the chamber.