Title:
METHOD FOR MIXING FLUID STREAMS, MICROFLUIDIC MIXER AND MICROFLUIDIC CHIP UTILIZING SAME
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO2005063368
Kind Code:
A3
Abstract:
A method for mixing fluid streams, microfluidic mixer and microfluidic chip utilizing same utilize a topological mixing scheme that exploits the laminarity of the flow to repeatedly fold the flow and exponentially increase the concentration gradients to obtain fast and efficient mixing by diffusion (Figure 1a). It is based on helical flow channels with opposite chiralities that split rotate and recombine the fluid stream in a topology reminiscent of a series of MÖBIUS bands. This geometry is realized in a simple six-stage, two-layer elastomer structure with a footprint of 400 µm x 300 µm per stage that mixes two solutions efficiently at Reynolds numbers between 0.1 and 2. This represents more than an order of magnitude reduction in the size of microfluid mixers that can be manufactured in standard multilayer soft lithography techniques.
Inventors:
MEINERS JENS-CHRISTIAN (US)
CHEN HAO (US)
CHEN HAO (US)
Application Number:
PCT/US2004/043152
Publication Date:
August 25, 2005
Filing Date:
December 22, 2004
Export Citation:
Assignee:
UNIV MICHIGAN (US)
MEINERS JENS-CHRISTIAN (US)
CHEN HAO (US)
MEINERS JENS-CHRISTIAN (US)
CHEN HAO (US)
International Classes:
B01F5/06; B01F13/00; (IPC1-7): B01F5/00
Foreign References:
| US5904424A | 1999-05-18 | |||
| US6190034B1 | 2001-02-20 |
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