Electrokinetic instability micromixer
First Claim
1. An electrokinetic stirring method for rapid mixing of an initially heterogeneous solution whose motion is dominated by viscous forces, said method comprising an act of:
- inducing an electrokinetic flow instability (EKI) in said initially heterogeneous solution with an alternating current (A/C) electric field, wherein said EKI, generated within a few seconds after application of said A/C electric field and acting as an active stirring means, quickly produces a randomly fluctuating, three-dimensional fluid flow field enabling said rapid mixing thereby generating a homogeneous solution from said initially heterogeneous solution.
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Abstract
A novel electrokinetic instability (EKI) micromixer and method takes advantage of the EKI to effect active rapid stirring of confluent microstreams of biomolecules without moving parts or complex microfabrication processes. The EKI is induced using an alternating current (A/C) electric field. Within seconds, the randomly fluctuating, three-dimensional velocity field created by the EKI rapidly and effectively stirs an initially heterogeneous solution and generates a homogeneous solution that is useful in a variety of biochemical and bioanalytical systems. Microfabricated on a glass substrate, the inventive EKI micromixer can be easily and advantageously integrated in molecular diagnostics apparatuses and systems, such as a chip-based “Lab-on-a-Chip” microfluidic device.
85 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An electrokinetic stirring method for rapid mixing of an initially heterogeneous solution whose motion is dominated by viscous forces, said method comprising an act of:
inducing an electrokinetic flow instability (EKI) in said initially heterogeneous solution with an alternating current (A/C) electric field, wherein said EKI, generated within a few seconds after application of said A/C electric field and acting as an active stirring means, quickly produces a randomly fluctuating, three-dimensional fluid flow field enabling said rapid mixing thereby generating a homogeneous solution from said initially heterogeneous solution. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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17. An electrokinetic instability (EKI) micromixer, comprising:
a fluidic network having a mixing chamber;
a plurality of ports including at least two inlet ports, at least two side channel ports, and an outlet port;
a plurality of liquid channels connecting said mixing chamber and said plurality of ports; and
at least two high flow resistance, porous, dielectric membranes;
wherein during operation of said EKI micromixer an alternating current (A/C) electric field is applied via said side channel ports for inducing an electrokinetic flow instability (EKI) to effect rapid mixing of an initially heterogeneous solution in said mixing chamber, thereby generating a homogeneous solution from said initially heterogeneous solution.
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29. A method for producing an electrokinetic instability (EKI) micromixer capable of utilizing an electrokinetic flow instability for rapid mixing of an initially heterogeneous solution to generate a homogeneous solution, said method comprising:
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wet-etching on a first glass substrate a fluidic network having a mixing chamber, a plurality of ports including at least two inlet ports, at least two side channel ports, an outlet port, and a plurality of liquid microchannels connecting said mixing chamber and said plurality of ports;
drilling thru-holes through a second glass substrate, wherein said thru-holes correspond to said plurality of ports; and
sealing said fluidic network by thermally bonding said second glass substrate to said first glass such that fluids introduced into said inlet ports can be advected either electroosmotically or with pressure toward said mixing chamber, and said side channel ports, connected to either side of said mixing chamber, allow for an alternating current (A/C) excitation to induce said EKI in said mixing chamber during operation of said EKI micromixer, wherein said EKI effects said rapid mixing in said mixing chamber.
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Specification