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Oscillating bubbles in teardrop cavities for microflow control

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Abstract

Microstreaming generated from oscillating microbubbles has great potential in microfluidic applications for localized flow control. In this study, we explore the use of teardrop-shaped cavities for trapping microbubbles. Upon acoustic actuation, these microbubbles confined in teardrop cavities can be utilized to generate a directional microstreaming flow. We further show that by altering the acoustic excitation frequency, a flow-switch for altering flow direction in microfluidic environments can be achieved using two oppositely arranged teardrop cavities with different sizes. In the end, we show that an array of such bubble-filled teardrop cavities can act as a fixated microfluidic transport system allowing for on-chip particle manipulation in complex flow patterns. This inexpensive method to create flows to switch and transport elements based on teardrop cavities can be widely employed for microfluidic applications such as drug delivery systems.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by DARPA Young Faculty Award N66001-11-1-4127 and WSUV Faculty Research Mini-Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA

    Ali Hashmi, Garrett Heiman, Gan Yu, Mark Lewis, Hyuck-Jin Kwon & Jie Xu

Authors
  1. Ali Hashmi
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  2. Garrett Heiman
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  3. Gan Yu
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  4. Mark Lewis
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  5. Hyuck-Jin Kwon
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  6. Jie Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jie Xu.

Additional information

A. Hashmi and G. Heiman equally contributed to this work.

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Hashmi, A., Heiman, G., Yu, G. et al. Oscillating bubbles in teardrop cavities for microflow control. Microfluid Nanofluid 14, 591–596 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-012-1077-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-012-1077-5

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