Analyte mixing and delivery to a functionalized sensor surface are important to realize several advantages associated with biosensors integrated with microfluidic channels. Here, we present a comparison between a herringbone structure (HBS) and a curved passive mixing structure of their efficiency at facilitating mixing and surface saturation using fluorescein included in one of the inlets of a Y-channel microfluidic device. We performed a large parametric study to assess the effects of varying the height of the microfluidic channel as well as the height, width, and spacing of the passive mixing structures. Scanning confocal microscopy combined with a custom-designed image-analysis procedure were utilized to visualize and quantify the observed changes in efficiency in inducing solute mixing by the different designs. The flow patterns within the channels were found to vary significantly with changes in the geometry of the passive mixing structures, which in turn affected the efficiency of the channel at mixing the fluid and saturating the surface opposite the mixing structures. The solute mixing as a function of the channel length was also determined; an initial slow mixing rate does not always coincide with a low mixing index (MI). We found that the range of MIs for the curved mixing structure 1 cm downstream from the inlet was 0.85–0.99 whilst for our HBS it was 0.74–0.98, depending on the design parameters of the passive mixing structures. Overall, this study shows that the curved passive mixing structure family is more robust in inducing efficient mixing than the HBSs.

Aqueous microgels are distinct entities of soft matter with mechanical signatures that can be different from their macroscopic counterparts due to confinement effects in the preparation, inherently made to consist of more than one domain (Janus particles) or further processing by coating and change in the extent of crosslinking of the core. Motivated by the importance of the mechanical properties of such microgels from a fundamental point, but also related to numerous applications, we provide a perspective on the experimental strategies currently available and emerging tools being explored. Albeit all techniques in principle exploit enforcing stress and observing strain, the realization differs from directly, as, e.g., by atomic force microscope, to less evident in a fluid field combined with imaging by a high-speed camera in high-throughput strategies. Moreover, the accompanying analysis strategies also reflect such differences, and the level of detail that would be preferred for a comprehensive understanding of the microgel mechanical properties are not always implemented. Overall, the perspective is that current technologies have the capacity to provide detailed, nanoscopic mechanical characterization of microgels over an extended size range, to the high-throughput approaches providing distributions over the mechanical signatures, a feature not readily accessible by atomic force microscopy and micropipette aspiration.

First principle calculations show the effect of the reduction of dimensions on the mechanism of water oxidation catalysed by BiVO4.

Functionalized sensor surfaces combined with microfluidic channels are becoming increasingly important in realizing efficient biosensing devices applicable to small sample volumes. Relaxing the limitations imposed by laminar flow of the microfluidic channels by passive mixing structures to enhance analyte mass transfer to the sensing area will further improve the performance of these devices. In this paper, we characterize the flow performance in a group of microfluidic flow channels with novel double curved passive mixing structures (DCMS) fabricated in the ceiling. The experimental strategy includes confocal imaging to monitor the stationary flow patterns downstream from the inlet where a fluorophore is included in one of the inlets in a Y-channel microfluidic device. Analyses of the fluorescence pattern projected both along the channel and transverse to the flow direction monitored details in the developing homogenization. The mixing index (MI) as a function of the channel length was found to be well accounted for by a double-exponential equilibration process, where the different parameters of the DCMS were found to affect the extent and length of the initial mixing component. The range of MI for a 1 cm channel length for the DCMS was 0.75–0.98, which is a range of MI comparable to micromixers with herringbone structures. Overall, this indicates that the DCMS is a high performing passive micromixer, but the sensitivity to geometric parameter values calls for the selection of certain values for the most efficient mixing.