Abstract
In this paper, the optimization of a new design of active microfluidic mixer incorporating micropillar for accelerating the mixing of fluids was performed. The studied microfluidic mixer consists of the microfluidic, mechanical, and electromagnetic parts. The finite element analysis is used to study the effect of input channel angle, micropillar’s radius and spacing, and shape of membrane on the performance of mixer. In particular, the mixing flow rate, membrane deflection and micropillar swivel or bending were evaluated. The results show that the flow rate in the range of 3.78–3.88 µl/s which is almost two times of the input flow rate was obtained. The results also show that the deflection height ranging from 40 to 170 µm, micropillar swivel from 7° to 20° were obtained. Furthermore, from the comparison among the membrane shapes, it revealed that the membrane in circular shape generates higher deflection and swivel than the other membranes in square and rectangle shapes due to the uniform tensile stress distribution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas Y, Miwa J, Zengerle R, Stetten V (2013) Active continuous-flow micromixer using an external braille pin actuator array. Micromachines 4:80–89
Chen CY, Lin CY, Hu YT (2013) Magnetically actuated artificial cilia for optimum mixing performance in microfluidics. Lab Chip 13:2834–2839
de Bhailis D, Murray C, Duffy M, Alderman J, Kelly G, Mathuna SCO (2000) Modelling and analysis of a magnetic microactuator. Sens Actuator A Phys 81:285–289
Ghaderi M, Ayerden NP, Graaf G, Wolffenbuttel RF (2015) Minimizing stress in large-area surface micromachined perforated membranes with slits. J Micromech Microeng 25(074010):1–9
Ghanbari A, Nock V, Johari S, Blaikie R (2012) A micropillar based on chip system for continuous force measurement of C. elegans. J Micromech Microeng 22:0950091–09500910
Golden JP, Justin GA, Nasir M, Ligler FS (2012) Hydrodynamic focusing—a versatile tool. Anal Bioanal Chem 402:325–335
Johnson TJ, Ross D, Locascio LE (2002) Rapid microfluidic mixing. Anal Chem 74(1):45–51
Lee SH, van Noort D, Lee JY, Zhang B, Park TH (2009) Effective mixing in a microfluidic chip using magnetic particles. Lab Chip 9:479–482
Lin D, He F, Liao Y, Lin J, Liu C, Song J, Cheng Y (2013) Three-dimensional staggered herringbone mixer fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing. J Opt 15(2):5601. https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8978/15/2/025601
Liu F, Zhang J, Alici G, Yan S, Mutlu R, Li W, Yan T (2016) An inverted micro-mixer based on a magnetically-actuated cilium made of Fe doped PDMS. Smart Mater Struct 25:1–7
Oh K, Smith B, Devasia S, Riley JJ, Chung JH (2010) Characterization of mixing performance for bio-mimetic silicone cilia. Microfluid Nanofluid 9:645–655
Papadopoulos VE, Kefala IN, Kaprou G, Kokkoris G, Moschou D, Papadakis G, Gizeli E, Tserepi A (2014) A passive micromixer for enzymatic digestion of DNA. Microelectron Eng 124:42–46
Pawinanto RE, Yunas J, Majlis BY, Hamzah AA (2016) Design and fabrication of compact MEMS electromagnetic micro-actuator with planar micro coil based on PCB. Telkomnika 14:856–866
Said MM, Yunas J, Pawinanto RE, Majlis BY, Bais B (2016) PDMS based electromagnetic actuator membrane with embedded magnetic particles in polymer composite. Sens Actuator A Phys 245:85–96
Su Y, Chen W (2007) Investigation on electromagnetic microactuator and its application in micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS). In: IEEE international conference on mechatronics and automation, pp 3250–3254
Tang SQ, Li KHH, Yeo ZT, Chan WX, Tan SH, Yoon YJ, Ng SH (2018) Study of concentric, eccentric and split type magnetic membrane micro-mixers. Sens Biosens Res 19:14–23
Tekin HC, Sivagnanam V, Ciftlik AT, Sayah A, Vandevyver C, Gijs MAM (2011) Chaotic mixing using source-sink microfluidic flows in a PDMS chip. Microfluid Nanofluid 10:749–759
Tran-Minh N, Karlsen F, Dong T (2014) A simple and low cost micromixer for laminar blood mixing: design, optimization, and analysis. J Biomed Inform 404:91–104
Ugural CA, Fernster SK (2003) Advances strength and applied elasticity, 5th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, pp 14–29
Yin HL, Huang YC, Fang W, Hsieh J (2007) A novel electromagnetic elastomer membrane actuator with a semi embedded coil. Sens Actuators A Phys 139:194–202
You J, Kang K, Tran T, Park H, Hwang W, Kim J, Im SG (2015) PDMS-based turbulent microfluidic mixer. Lab Chip 15:1727–1735
Acknowledgements
R. E. Pawinanto thanks the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology for the Japan ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) scholarship. The authors thank the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for the financial supports through various research grants.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pawinanto, R.E., Yunas, J. & Hashim, A.M. Design optimization of active microfluidic mixer incorporating micropillar on flexible membrane. Microsyst Technol 25, 1203–1209 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4134-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4134-5