title: Membraneless microseparation by asymmetry in curvilinear laminar flows.
abstract: Membraneless microseparation by asymmetric inertial migration is studied in curvilinear laminar flows and evidence of the microseparation is presented. Along a curvilinear laminar flow, transverse particle migration involves competition between three shear-flow effects; the tubular pinch effect, centrifugal force, and Dean's vortex. Equilibrating control of migration allows for particle separation to different outlets. No filter-media or external force is necessary for the microseparation utilizing only shear-flow characteristics. A double-spiral design effectively controls the migration to optimize microseparation. The concentration ratio of 10 microm beads from the two different outlets was 660 times at 92 mm/s of flow velocity. This new technology has great potential for high-throughput and low cost in bio-agent and particulate separation at both macro and micro scales.
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto Research Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. jseo@parc.com
authors.forename: Jeonggi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Meng H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lean
authors.forename: Ashutosh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kole
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances