Acoustic Bubble Induced Microstreaming for The Enhancement of Droplet Mixing in Electrowetting (EW) Microfluidic Platforms

摘要

This paper presents a new type of electrowetting (EW)-driven digital microfluidic platform (DMF) enhanced by an acoustic bubble to improve mixing performance on an open surface. For fast and controllable droplet mixing operation, an acoustic bubble induced microstreaming is added to the existing EW microfluidic platform. Mixing operation in the existing EW platform was possible only in a hydrophobic surface, while a new microfluidic platform makes it possible even in a hydrophilic surface. The mixing efficiency was evaluated through mixing indexes obtained from image analysis, along with the experimental verification of the proposed microfluidic platform based on both EW and acoustic actuation. It will be useful for various biochemical applications.