High throughput viscoelastic particle focusing and separation in spiral microchannels.

ABSTRACT: Passive particle manipulation using inertial and elasto-inertial microfluidics have received substantial interest in recent years and have found various applications in high throughput particle sorting and separation. For separation applications, elasto-inertial microfluidics has thus far been applied at substantial lower flow rates as compared to inertial microfluidics. In this work, we explore viscoelastic particle focusing and separation in spiral channels at two orders of magnitude higher Reynolds numbers than previously reported. We show that the balance between dominant inertial lift force, dean drag force and elastic force enables stable 3D particle focusing at dynamically high Reynolds numbers. Using a two-turn spiral, we show that particles, initially pinched towards the inner wal

SUBMITTER: Kumar T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8055915 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature