Journal article
Inertial Microfluidics with Integrated Vortex Generators Using Liquid Metal Droplets as Fugitive Ink
N Nguyen, P Thurgood, A Arash, E Pirogova, S Baratchi, K Khoshmanesh
Advanced Functional Materials | WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH | Published : 2019
Abstract
This work demonstrates a simple method for fabricating nearly spherical dome structures on top of lithographically defined microfluidic channels using gallium-based liquid metal droplets as fugitive ink. The droplets remain stable during the pouring and curing of polydimethylsiloxane and can be easily removed by applying a basic solution. This facilitates the formation of domes with diameters of a few hundred micrometers patterned on the desired locations of the channel. The expansion of the channel at the interface of the dome leads to formation of a large vortex inside the dome. Experiments using high-speed imaging along with numerical simulations show the utility of the vortex-induced flo..
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge RMIT's MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF) for fabrication of microfluidic devices and the RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility (RMMF) for scanning electron microscopy characterization of liquid metal templated dome structures. N.N. acknowledges RMIT University School of Engineering for Ph.D. scholarship. S.B. acknowledges the Australian Research Council for Discovery for Early Career Researchers Award (DE170100239). E.P. acknowledges the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council for funding "The Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research" (NHMRC CRE APP1135076). K.K. acknowledges the Australian Research Council for Discovery Grant (DP170102138 and DP180102049).