title: Passive Microfluidic device for Sub Millisecond Mixing.
abstract: We report the investigation of a novel microfluidic mixing device to achieve submillisecond mixing. The micromixer combines two fluid streams of several microliters per second into a mixing compartment integrated with two T- type premixers and 4 butterfly-shaped in-channel mixing elements. We have employed three dimensional fluidic simulations to evaluate the mixing efficiency, and have constructed physical devices utilizing conventional microfabrication techniques. The simulation indicated thorough mixing at flow rate as low as 6 µL/s. The corresponding mean residence time is 0.44 ms for 90% of the particles simulated, or 0.49 ms for 95% of the particles simulated, respectively. The mixing efficiency of the physical device was also evaluated using fluorescein dye solutions and FluoSphere-red nanoparticles suspensions. The constructed micromixers achieved thorough mixing at the same flow rate of 6 µL/s, with the mixing indices of 96% ± 1%, and 98% ± 1% for the dye and the nanoparticle, respectively. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation data. The device demonstrated promising capabilities for time resolved studies for macromolecular dynamics of biological macromolecules.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Electronics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180.
authors.forename: Zonghuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: Hisham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barnard
authors.forename: Tanvir R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Shaikh
authors.forename: Carmen A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mannella
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wagenknecht
authors.forename: Toh-Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lu