Integrated obstacle microstructures for gas-liquid separation and flow switching in microfluidic networks

Yu, Nianzuo; Wang, Shuli; Liu, Huiwen; Ge, Peng; Nan, Jingjie; Ye, Shunsheng; Zhang, Junhu; Yang, Bai

doi:10.1016/j.snb.2017.09.207

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…B) Schematic illustration of Laplace pressure of fluid in a microchannel with an obstacle microstructure on bottom surface of the microchannel, atomic force microscopy image of the obstacle microstructure, and flow behavior of water in the microchannel at driving pressure of 44 mbar. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Elsevier.…”

Section: Inner Surface Design Of Microchannelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Choi and co‐workers fabricated scalloped silicon nanogrooves substrate through deep reactive ion etching method, and built microchannels on the patterned substrate to control flow behavior . Recently, Zhang and co‐workers integrated obstacle microstructures in microchannels to precisely confine the solid–liquid–air three phase contact line of the fluid front (Figure B) . As shown in the schematic, two factors induce the increase of Laplace pressure for the fluid transportation in the microchannel, including a modest increase of Laplace pressure when fluid flows from concave section to convex section, and a significant increase of Laplace pressure results from the Gibbs inequality condition when fluid flows from convex section to concave section.…”

Section: Inner Surface Design Of Microchannelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the large Laplace pressure in the outlet channel with microstructure, the water plugs flowed into the outlet channel without structure, while the gas slugs flowed into outlet channel with microstructure. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Elsevier.…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In another work, Zhang and co‐workers separated gas–liquid flow in the microchannels using the unidirectional flow of water in the microchannel built on morphology patterned anisotropic wetting surfaces . Recently, they realized gas–water separation by simply constructing obstacle microstructures in the microchannels . Construction of hydrophobic obstacle microstructure in the microchannel increased the energy barrier for the flow of water, which could be explained by the Young–Laplace equation and the Gibbs inequality effect .…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inner Surface Design of Functional Microchannels for Microscale Flow Control

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

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Fluidic flow behaviors in microfluidics are dominated by the interfaces created between the fluids and the inner surface walls of microchannels. Microchannel inner surface designs, including the surface chemical modification, and the construction of micro‐/nanostructures, are good examples of manipulating those interfaces between liquids and surfaces through tuning the chemical and physical properties of the inner walls of the microchannel. Therefore, the microchannel inner surface design plays critical roles in regulating microflows to enhance the capabilities of microfluidic systems for various applications. Most recently, the rapid progresses in micro‐/nanofabrication technologies and fundamental materials have also made it possible to integrate increasingly complex chemical and physical surface modification strategies with the preparation of microchannels in microfluidics. Besides, a wave of researches focusing on the ideas of using liquids as dynamic surface materials is identified, and the unique characteristics endowed with liquid–liquid interfaces have revealed that the interesting phenomena can extend the scope of interfacial interactions determining microflow behaviors. This review extensively discusses the microchannel inner surface designs for microflow control, especially evaluates them from the perspectives of the interfaces resulting from the inner surface designs. In addition, prospective opportunities for the development of surface designs of microchannels, and their applications are provided with the potential to attract scientific interest in areas related to the rapid development and applications of various microchannel systems.

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Section: Inner Surface Design Of Microchannelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inner Surface Design Of Microchannelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Inner Surface Design of Functional Microchannels for Microscale Flow Control

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

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“…Despite the advancements, pressure measurements on microscales are still going to be challenging and open-ended topics in the near future [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. For practical purposes, a universal pressure sensor should be straightforward and repeatable, which means that the sensor can be integrated in one existing microfluidic chip with minimal alterations and can be reused for other chips without recalibration and more microfabrication.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Easy Method for Pressure Measurement in Microchannels Using Trapped Air Compression in a One-End-Sealed Capillary

Shen

et al. 2020

Micromachines

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Pressure is one basic parameter involved in microfluidic systems. In this study, we developed an easy capillary-based method for measuring fluid pressure at one or multiple locations in a microchannel. The principal component is a commonly used capillary (inner diameter of 400 μm and 95 mm in length), with one end sealed and calibrated scales on it. By reading the height (h) of an air-liquid interface, the pressure can be measured directly from a table, which is calculated using the ideal gas law. Many factors that affect the relationship between the trapped air volume and applied pressure (papplied) have been investigated in detail, including the surface tension, liquid gravity, air solubility in water, temperature variation, and capillary diameters. Based on the evaluation of the experimental and simulation results of the pressure, combined with theoretical analysis, a resolution of about 1 kPa within a full-scale range of 101.6–178 kPa was obtained. A pressure drop (Δp) as low as 0.25 kPa was obtained in an operating range from 0.5 kPa to 12 kPa. Compared with other novel, microstructure-based methods, this method does not require microfabrication and additional equipment. Finally, we use this method to reasonably analyze the nonlinearity of the flow–pressure drop relationship caused by channel deformation. In the future, this one-end-sealed capillary could be used for pressure measurement as easily as a clinical thermometer in various microfluidic applications.

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A thermally actuated microvalve using paraffin composite by induction heating

Liu

Yang

et al. 2019

Microsyst Technol

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Integrated obstacle microstructures for gas-liquid separation and flow switching in microfluidic networks

Cited by 10 publications

References 44 publications

Inner Surface Design of Functional Microchannels for Microscale Flow Control

Inner Surface Design of Functional Microchannels for Microscale Flow Control

An Easy Method for Pressure Measurement in Microchannels Using Trapped Air Compression in a One-End-Sealed Capillary

A thermally actuated microvalve using paraffin composite by induction heating

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