Issue 23, 2009

Continuous particle separation in a microfluidic channelvia standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW)

Abstract

This work introduces a method of continuous particle separation through standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW)-induced acoustophoresis in a microfluidic channel. Using this SSAW-based method, particles in a continous laminar flow can be separated based on their volume, density and compressibility. In this work, a mixture of particles of equal density but dissimilar volumes was injected into a microchannel through two side inlets, sandwiching a deonized water sheath flow injected through a central inlet. A one-dimensional SSAW generated by two parallel interdigital transducers (IDTs) was established across the channel, with the channel spanning a single SSAW pressure node located at the channel center. Application of the SSAW induced larger axial acoustic forces on the particles of larger volume, repositioning them closer to the wave pressure node at the center of the channel. Thus particles were laterally moved to different regions of the channel cross-section based on particle volume. The particle separation method presented here is simple and versatile, capable of separating virtually all kinds of particles (regardless of charge/polarization or optical properties) with high separation efficiency and low power consumption.

Graphical abstract: Continuous particle separation in a microfluidic channelvia standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW)

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jul 2009
Accepted
11 Sep 2009
First published
12 Oct 2009

Lab Chip, 2009,9, 3354-3359

Continuous particle separation in a microfluidic channelvia standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW)

J. Shi, H. Huang , Z. Stratton, Y. Huang and T. J. Huang, Lab Chip, 2009, 9, 3354 DOI: 10.1039/B915113C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements