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3D Printed Microfluidic Mixers—A Comparative Study on Mixing Unit Performances
Author(s) -
Enders Anton,
Siller Ina G.,
Urmann Katharina,
Hoffmann Michael R.,
Bahnemann Janina
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201804326
Subject(s) - microfluidics , mixing (physics) , micromixer , laminar flow , materials science , reynolds number , volumetric flow rate , microchannel , nanotechnology , mechanics , turbulence , physics , quantum mechanics
Abstract One of the basic operations in microfluidic systems for biological and chemical applications is the rapid mixing of different fluids. However, flow profiles in microfluidic systems are laminar, which means molecular diffusion is the only mixing effect. Therefore, mixing structures are crucial to enable more efficient mixing in shorter times. Since traditional microfabrication methods remain laborious and expensive, 3D printing has emerged as a potential alternative for the fabrication of microfluidic devices. In this work, five different passive micromixers known from literature are redesigned in comparable dimensions and manufactured using high‐definition MultiJet 3D printing. Their mixing performance is evaluated experimentally, using sodium hydroxide and phenolphthalein solutions, and numerically via computational fluid dynamics. Both experimental and numerical analysis results show that HC and Tesla‐like mixers achieve complete mixing after 0.99 s and 0.78 s, respectively, at the highest flow rate (Reynolds number ( Re ) = 37.04). In comparison, Caterpillar mixers exhibit a lower mixing rate with complete mixing after 1.46 s and 1.9 s. Furthermore, the HC mixer achieves very good mixing performances over all flow rates ( Re = 3.7 to 37.04), while other mixers show improved mixing only at higher flow rates.