Tunable Particle Focusing in a Straight Channel with Symmetric Semicircle Obstacle Arrays Using Electrophoresis-Modified Inertial Effects

Dan Yuan¹, Chao Pan², Jun Zhang^{3

4}, Sheng Yan⁵, Qianbin Zhao⁶, Gursel Alici⁷, Weihua Li⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. dy983@uowmail.edu.au.
² School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. cp128@uowmail.edu.au.
³ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. jz218@uowmail.edu.au.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. jz218@uowmail.edu.au.
⁵ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. sy034@uowmail.edu.au.
⁶ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. qz260@uowmail.edu.au.
⁷ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. gursel@uow.edu.au.
⁸ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. weihuali@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 30404368
PMCID: PMC6189854
DOI: 10.3390/mi7110195

Tunable Particle Focusing in a Straight Channel with Symmetric Semicircle Obstacle Arrays Using Electrophoresis-Modified Inertial Effects

Dan Yuan et al. Micromachines (Basel). 2016.

. 2016 Nov 1;7(11):195.

doi: 10.3390/mi7110195.

Authors

Dan Yuan¹, Chao Pan², Jun Zhang^{3

4}, Sheng Yan⁵, Qianbin Zhao⁶, Gursel Alici⁷, Weihua Li⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. dy983@uowmail.edu.au.
² School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. cp128@uowmail.edu.au.
³ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. jz218@uowmail.edu.au.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. jz218@uowmail.edu.au.
⁵ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. sy034@uowmail.edu.au.
⁶ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. qz260@uowmail.edu.au.
⁷ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. gursel@uow.edu.au.
⁸ School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. weihuali@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 30404368
PMCID: PMC6189854
DOI: 10.3390/mi7110195

Abstract

In this work, a novel microfluidic platform for tunable particle focusing in a straight channel with symmetric semicircle obstacle arrays using electrophoresis (EP)-modified inertial effects was presented. By exerting an EP force on the charged microparticles, a relative velocity gap between microspheres and fluid in a straight channel with symmetric semicircle obstacle arrays was implemented. The relative velocity and fluid shear will induce shear-slip lift force (Saffman lift force) perpendicular to the mainstream direction. Therefore, the focusing pattern can be altered using the electrophoresis-induced Saffman force. The effects of electric field direction, flow rate, electric field magnitude, and particle size were also studied. This demonstrates the possibility of adjusting the particle inertial focusing pattern in a straight channel with with symmetric semicircle obstacle arrays using electrophoresis. Manipulation of the lateral migration of focusing streaks increases controllability in applications such as blood cell filtration and the separation of cells by size.

Keywords: Saffman lift force; electrophoresis force; particle focusing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 2**
Schematic of tunable particle focusing in a straight channel with symmetric semicircle obstacle arrays using electrophoresis (EP)-modified inertial effects. (a) The principle of radially-inward (toward the channel center) migration of particles by the electrophoresis-induced Saffman force; (b) The principle of radially-outward (toward the channel wall) migration of particles by the electrophoresis-induced Saffman force.

**Figure 3**
Effects of electric field direction.

**Figure 4**
Effects of flow rates on particle distribution in Inertial +500 V, pure Inertial, and Inertial −500 V cases.

**Figure 5**
Effects of electric field magnitude on particle distribution (Inertial, Inertial −300 V, Inertial −500 V) from flow rate 10 µL/min to 100 µL/min. The electric field direction is from the outlet to the inlet.

**Figure 6**
Distribution of 5 µm and 13 µm particles in Inertial −500 V at flow rate 10 µL/min, 20 µL/min, and 50 µL/min.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Cited by

Synchronous oscillatory electro-inertial focusing of microparticles.
Vishwanathan G, Juarez G. Vishwanathan G, et al. Biomicrofluidics. 2023 Dec 12;17(6):064105. doi: 10.1063/5.0162368. eCollection 2023 Dec. Biomicrofluidics. 2023. PMID: 38098691 Free PMC article.
Optimal Control of Colloidal Trajectories in Inertial Microfluidics Using the Saffman Effect.
Rühle F, Schaaf C, Stark H. Rühle F, et al. Micromachines (Basel). 2020 Jun 15;11(6):592. doi: 10.3390/mi11060592. Micromachines (Basel). 2020. PMID: 32549244 Free PMC article.

References

1. Sackmann E.K., Fulton A.L., Beebe D.J. The present and future role of microfluidics in biomedical research. Nature. 2014;507:181–189. doi: 10.1038/nature13118. - DOI - PubMed
1. Bhagat A.A.S., Bow H., Hou H.W., Tan S.J., Han J., Lim C.T. Microfluidics for cell separation. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 2010;48:999–1014. doi: 10.1007/s11517-010-0611-4. - DOI - PubMed
1. Zhang J., Li W., Li M., Alici G., Nguyen N.-T. Particle inertial focusing and its mechanism in a serpentine microchannel. Microfluid. Nanofluid. 2014;17:305–316. doi: 10.1007/s10404-013-1306-6. - DOI
1. Çetin B., Li D. Dielectrophoresis in microfluidics technology. Electrophoresis. 2011;32:2410–2427. doi: 10.1002/elps.201100167. - DOI - PubMed
1. Forbes T.P., Forry S.P. Microfluidic magnetophoretic separations of immunomagnetically labeled rare mammalian cells. Lab Chip. 2012;12:1471–1479. doi: 10.1039/c2lc40113d. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Tunable Particle Focusing in a Straight Channel with Symmetric Semicircle Obstacle Arrays Using Electrophoresis-Modified Inertial Effects

Affiliations

Tunable Particle Focusing in a Straight Channel with Symmetric Semicircle Obstacle Arrays Using Electrophoresis-Modified Inertial Effects

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous