title: Bubble-induced damping in displacement-driven microfluidic flows.
abstract: Bubble damping in displacement-driven microfluidic flows was theoretically and experimentally investigated for a Y-channel microfluidic network. The system was found to exhibit linear behavior for typical microfluidic flow conditions. The bubbles induced a low-pass filter behavior with a characteristic cutoff frequency that scaled proportionally with flow rate and inversely with bubble volume and exhibited a minimum with respect to the relative resistances of the connecting channels. A theoretical model based on the electrical circuit analogy was able to predict experimentally observed damping of fluctuations with excellent agreement. Finally, a flowmeter with high resolution (0.01 μL/min) was demonstrated as an application of the bubble-aided stabilization. This study may aid in the design of many other bubble-stabilized microfluidic systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jongho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Faizur
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Tahar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laoui
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karnik
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D044085:Microfluidics; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010825:Physics / Q000379:methods; D011312:Pressure