Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Microscopic particles flowing through narrow channels may accumulate near bifurcation points provoking flow reduction, clogging and ultimately chip breakage in a microfluidic device. Here we show that the full flow behavior of colloidal particles through a microfluidic Y-junction can be controlled by tuning the pair interactions and the degree of confinement. By combining experiments with numerical simulations, we investigate the dynamic states emerging when magnetizable colloids flow through a symmetric Y-junction such that a single particle can pass through both gates with the same probability. We show that clogging, induced by the inevitable presence of a stagnation point, can be avoided by repulsive interactions. Moreover we tune the pair interactions to steer branching into the two channels: attractive particles are flowing through the same gate, while repulsive colloids alternate between the two gates. Even details of the particle assembly such as buckling at the exit gate are tunable by the interactions and the channel geometry. The Y-junction is an essential element in synthetic and biological microfluidic networks. This study investigates how the flow behavior of colloidal particles through a microfluidic Y-junction can be controlled by tuning the interparticle interactions and the nature of confinement.
Source: Communications Physics
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,990
OpenAlex ID: W4409488729