Mixing Performance of a Cost-effective Split-and-Recombine 3D Micromixer Fabricated by Xurographic Method

Taheri, Ramezan Ali; Goodarzi, Vahabodin; Allahverdi, Abdollah

doi:10.3390/mi10110786

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) is a widely used polymer in microfluidic devices for cell and tissue engineering and cell-on-a-chip due to its biocompatibility, permeability to gases, transparency, easy molding and economic affordability. Intrinsic drawbacks of PDMS cause the inappropriate surface for long-term cell analysis [1][2][3][4]. Although oxygen plasma treatment, chemical functionalization, and protein coating make the surface biocompatible for cell adhesion, the hydrophilicity reaction caused by oxygen plasma is reversible and also depends on reaction time and temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PDMS Nano-Modified Scaffolds for Improvement of Stem Cells Proliferation and Differentiation in Microfluidic Platform

et al. 2020

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Microfluidics cell-based assays require strong cell-substrate adhesion for cell viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The intrinsic properties of PDMS, a commonly used polymer in microfluidics systems, regarding cell-substrate interactions have limited its application for microfluidics cell-based assays. Various attempts by previous researchers, such as chemical modification, plasma-treatment, and protein-coating of PDMS revealed some improvements. These strategies are often reversible, time-consuming, short-lived with either cell aggregates formation, not cost-effective as well as not user- and eco-friendly too. To address these challenges, cell-surface interaction has been tuned by the modification of PDMS doped with different biocompatible nanomaterials. Gold nanowires (AuNWs), superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), graphene oxide sheets (GO), and graphene quantum dot (GQD) have already been coupled to PDMS as an alternative biomaterial enabling easy and straightforward integration during microfluidic fabrication. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by corresponding methods. Physical cues of the nanostructured substrates such as Young’s modulus, surface roughness, and nanotopology have been carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Initial biocompatibility assessment of the nanocomposites using human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) showed comparable cell viabilities among all nanostructured PDMS composites. Finally, osteogenic stem cell differentiation demonstrated an improved differentiation rate inside microfluidic devices. The results revealed that the presence of nanomaterials affected a 5- to 10-fold increase in surface roughness. In addition, the results showed enhancement of cell proliferation from 30% (pristine PDMS) to 85% (nano-modified scaffolds containing AuNWs and SPIONs), calcification from 60% (pristine PDMS) to 95% (PDMS/AuNWs), and cell surface marker expression from 40% in PDMS to 77% in SPION- and AuNWs-PDMS scaffolds at 14 day. Our results suggest that nanostructured composites have a very high potential for stem cell studies and future therapies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PDMS Nano-Modified Scaffolds for Improvement of Stem Cells Proliferation and Differentiation in Microfluidic Platform

et al. 2020

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“…The Dean vortex generated by an arc-shaped microchannel under high Re conditions can also greatly increase the mixing efficiency [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. The split and recombine micromixer (SAR) [ 12 , 13 ] first divides the sample into multiple tributaries, then these tributaries are merged together. Repeating the splitting and recombination operation several times can increase the sample’s contact area and thus improve the mixing efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of the Unit Junction on the Performance of a Repetitive Structure Micromixer

et al. 2022

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In order to investigate the influence of the unit junction on the micromixer performance, a repetitive structure micromixer with a total length of 12.3 mm was proposed. This micromixer consists of a T-shape inlet channel and six cubic mixing units, as well as junctions between them. Numerical simulations show that, when the junctions are all located at the geometric center of the cubic mixing unit, the outlet mixing index is 72.12%. At the same flow velocity, the best mixing index achieved 97.15% and was increased by 34.68% when the junctions were located at different corners of the cubic mixing unit. The improvement in the mixing index illustrated that the non-equilibrium vortexes generated by changing the junction location to utilize the restricted diffusion by the mixing unit’s side wall could promote mixing. Visual tests of the micromixer chip prepared by 3D printing were consistent with the simulation results, also indicating that the junction location had a significant influence on the mixer’s performance. This article provides a new idea for optimizing the structural design and improving the performance of micromixers.

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“…Also, it is very important to understand the mixing process inside the mixer to improve the mixing performance. Therefore, through qualitative and quantitative analysis of flow mechanisms and mixing performance, many effective methods have been developed to enhance the fluids mixing in passive micromixers, such as laminar flow micromixers [4,5], chaotic convection [6][7][8], split-recombination [9,10] and split-confluence [11,12] micromixers. The mixing of fluid samples is achieved by generating secondary flow and reflux phenomena.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Analysis of Mixing Performance in an Electroosmotic Micromixer with Cosine Channel Walls

2022

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Micromixers have significant potential in the field of chemical synthesis and biological pharmaceuticals, etc. In this study, the design and numerical simulations of a passive micromixer and a novel active electroosmotic micromixer by assembling electrode pairs were both presented with a cosine channel wall. The finite element method (FEM) coupled with Multiphysics modeling was used. To propose an efficient micromixer structure, firstly, different geometrical parameters such as amplitude-to-wavelength ratio (a/c) and mixing units (N) in the steady state without an electric field were investigated. This paper aims to seek a high-quality mixing solution. Therefore, based on the optimization of the above parameters of the passive micromixer, a new type of electroosmotic micromixer with an AC electric field was proposed. The results show that the vortices generated by electroosmosis can effectively induce fluid mixing. The effects of key parameters such as the Reynolds number, the number of electrode pairs, phase shift, voltage, and electrode frequency on the mixing performance were specifically discussed through numerical analysis. The mixing efficiency of the electroosmotic micromixer is quantitatively analyzed, which can be achieved at 96%. The proposed micromixer has a simple structure that can obtain a fast response and high mixing index.

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Mixing Performance of a Cost-effective Split-and-Recombine 3D Micromixer Fabricated by Xurographic Method

Cited by 23 publications

References 52 publications

PDMS Nano-Modified Scaffolds for Improvement of Stem Cells Proliferation and Differentiation in Microfluidic Platform

PDMS Nano-Modified Scaffolds for Improvement of Stem Cells Proliferation and Differentiation in Microfluidic Platform

The Influence of the Unit Junction on the Performance of a Repetitive Structure Micromixer

Numerical Analysis of Mixing Performance in an Electroosmotic Micromixer with Cosine Channel Walls

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