Premium
Evaporation Induced Spontaneous Micro‐Vortexes through Engineering of the Marangoni Flow
Author(s) -
Cai Zheren,
Huang Zhandong,
Li Zheng,
Su Meng,
Zhao Zhipeng,
Qin Feifei,
Zhang Zeying,
Yang Jun,
Song Yanlin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202008477
Subject(s) - vortex , microscale chemistry , marangoni effect , microfluidics , mechanics , flow (mathematics) , materials science , nanotechnology , hele shaw flow , open channel flow , physics , convection , mathematics , mathematics education
Vortex flow fields are widely used to manipulate objects at the microscale in microfluidics. Previous approaches to produce the vortex flow field mainly focused on inertia flows. It remains a challenge to create vortexes in Stokes flow regime. Here we reported an evaporation induced spontaneous vortex flow system in Stokes flow regime by engineering Marangoni flow in a micro‐structured microfluidic chip. The Marangoni flow is created by nonuniform evaporation of surfactant solution. Various vortexes are constructed by folding the air–water interface via microstructures. Patterns of vortexes are programmable by designing the geometry of the microstructures and are predictable using numerical simulations. Moreover, rotation of micro‐objects and enrichment of micro‐particles using vortex flow is demonstrated. This approach to create vortexes will provide a promising platform for various microfluidic applications such as biological analysis, chemical synthesis, and nanomaterial assembly.