Enhancement of microfluidic mixing using harmonic and chaotic electric fields

摘要

A novel microfluidic mixing approach is brought up in this study-the streams of species are mixed by applying harmonic or chaotic electric fields to four electrodes in the mixing chamber. For analyzing the effects of the harmonic and chaotic electric fields on the fluid flow characteristics in the microfluidic mixer, as well as evaluating the corresponding mixing performance, several numerical simulations are performed in the pursuit of the two experimental goals mentioned. In the simulation, harmonic and chaotic oscillations in the electric field are modeled by the well-known Duffing equation. Simulation results show that periodic and aperiodic perturbation effects occur within the mixing chamber when harmonic and chaotic electric fields are applied to the electrodes, respectively. These periodic and aperiodic perturbations produce strong perturbation effects, which efficiently mix species.