Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Inertial lateral migration and self-assembly of particles in bidisperse suspensions in microchannel flows

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Microfluidics and Nanofluidics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Inertial focusing of particles in microchannels has demonstrated a great potential for a wide range of applications addressing various challenges, such as clinical diagnosis, biological assay, water treatment, etc. Even though numerous theoretical, numerical and experimental studies have been performed to identify the physical mechanisms underlying the migration of particles in confined environments, only a few works, up to now, have been devoted to the effects resulting from the interactions between particles of different sizes in polydisperse suspensions. In this work, high-speed bright-field imaging was used to experimentally analyse the behaviour of model bidisperse suspensions. The influences of bidispersity on (1) the lateral inertial migration of the particles towards equilibrium positions within the channel cross-section and (2) their longitudinal ordering into trains in the flow direction, were investigated under different conditions by varying the Reynolds number, the particles’ size ratios and concentrations. The quantitative measurements and statistical analysis of the experimental data show that the bidispersity can modify not only the lateral migration process but also the sequential particle-ordering phenomenon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbas M, Magaud P, Gao Y, Geoffroy S (2014) Migration of finite sized particles in a laminar square channel flow from low to high Reynolds numbers. Phys Fluids 26:123301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amini H, Sollier E, Weaver WM, Di Carlo D (2012) Intrinsic particle-induced lateral transport in microchannels. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:11593–11598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amini H, Lee W, Di Carlo D (2014) Inertial microfluidic physics. Lab Chip 14:2739–2761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asmolov ES (1999) The inertial lift on a spherical particle in a plane Poiseuille flow at large channel Reynolds number. J Fluid Mech 381:63–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhagat AAS, Kuntaegowdanahalli SS, Papautsky I (2009) Inertial microfluidics for continuous particle filtration and extraction. Microfluid Nanofluid 7:217–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y et al (2014) Rare cell isolation and analysis in microfluidics. Lab Chip 14:626–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi Y-S, Seo K-W, Lee S-J (2011) Lateral and cross-lateral focusing of spherical particles in a square microchannel. Lab Chip 11:460–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciftlik AT, Ettori M, Gijs MA (2013) High throughput-per-footprint inertial focusing. Small 9:2764–2773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Carlo D, Irimia D, Tompkins RG, Toner M (2007) Continuous inertial focusing, ordering, and separation of particles in microchannels. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:18892–18897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Carlo D, Edd JF, Humphry KJ, Stone HA, Toner M (2009) Particle segregation and dynamics in confined flows. Phys Rev Lett 102:094503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edd JF, Di Carlo D, Humphry KJ, Köster S, Irimia D, Weitz DA, Toner M (2008) Controlled encapsulation of single-cells into monodisperse picolitre drops. Lab Chip 8:1262–1264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng J, Hu HH, Joseph DD (1994) Direct simulation of initial value problems for the motion of solid bodies in a Newtonian fluid. Part 2. Couette and Poiseuille flows. J Fluid Mech 277:271–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y, Magaud P, Baldas L, Lafforgue C, Abbas M, Colin S (2017) Self-ordered particle trains in inertial microchannel flows. Microfluid Nanofluid 21:154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta A, Magaud P, Lafforgue C, Abbas M (2018) Conditional stability of particle alignment in finite-Reynolds-number channel flow. Phys Rev Fluids 3:114302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood K, Lee S, Roper M (2015) Inertial migration of a rigid sphere in three-dimensional Poiseuille flow. J Fluid Mech 765:452–479

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Hood K, Kahkeshani S, Di Carlo D, Roper M (2016) Direct measurement of particle inertial migration in rectangular microchannels. Lab Chip 16:2840–2850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphry KJ, Kulkarni PM, Weitz DA, Morris JF, Stone HA (2010) Axial and lateral particle ordering in finite Reynolds number channel flows. Phys Fluids 22:081703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hur SC, Tse HTK, Di Carlo D (2010) Sheathless inertial cell ordering for extreme throughput flow cytometry. Lab Chip 10:274–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hur SC, Choi S-E, Kwon S, Carlo DD (2011a) Inertial focusing of non-spherical microparticles. Appl Phys Lett 99:044101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hur SC, Henderson-MacLennan NK, McCabe ER, Di Carlo D (2011b) Deformability-based cell classification and enrichment using inertial microfluidics. Lab Chip 11:912–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahkeshani S, Haddadi H, Di Carlo D (2016) Preferred interparticle spacings in trains of particles in inertial microchannel flows. J Fluid Mech 786:R3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim YW, Yoo JY (2008) The lateral migration of neutrally-buoyant spheres transported through square microchannels. J Micromech Microeng 18:065015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan GP, Beimfohr S, Leighton DT (1996) Shear-induced radial segregation in bidisperse suspensions. J Fluid Mech 321:371–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee W, Amini H, Stone HA, Di Carlo D (2010) Dynamic self-assembly and control of microfluidic particle crystals. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:22413–22418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim EJ, Ober TJ, Edd JF, McKinley GH, Toner M (2012) Visualization of microscale particle focusing in diluted and whole blood using particle trajectory analysis. Lab Chip 12:2199–2210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon M, Leal L (1998) An experimental study of the motion of concentrated suspensions in two-dimensional channel flow. Part 2. Bidisperse systems. J Fluid Mech 363:57–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mach AJ, Di Carlo D (2010) Continuous scalable blood filtration device using inertial microfluidics. Biotechnol Bioeng 107:302–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martel JM, Toner M (2013) Particle focusing in curved microfluidic channels. Sci Rep 3:3340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martel JM, Toner M (2014) Inertial focusing in microfluidics. Annu Rev Biomed Eng 16:371–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matas J-P, Glezer V, Guazzelli É, Morris JF (2004a) Trains of particles in finite-Reynolds-number pipe flow. Phys Fluids 16:4192–4195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matas J-P, Morris JF, Guazzelli É (2004b) Inertial migration of rigid spherical particles in Poiseuille flow. J Fluid Mech 515:171–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miura K, Itano T, Sugihara-Seki M (2014) Inertial migration of neutrally buoyant spheres in a pressure-driven flow through square channels. J Fluid Mech 749:320–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morley ST, Newport DT, Walsh MT (2017) Towards the prediction of flow-induced shear stress distributions experienced by breast cancer cells in the lymphatics. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 16:2051–2062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa N, Yabu T, Otomo R, Kase A, Makino M, Itano T, Sugihara-Seki M (2015) Inertial migration of a spherical particle in laminar square channel flows from low to high Reynolds numbers. J Fluid Mech 779:776–793

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Sajeesh P, Sen AK (2014) Particle separation and sorting in microfluidic devices: a review. Microfluid Nanofluid 17:1–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segre G, Silberberg A (1962) Behaviour of macroscopic rigid spheres in Poiseuille flow Part 2. Experimental results and interpretation. J Fluid Mech 14:136–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shichi H, Yamashita H, Seki J, Itano T, Sugihara-Seki M (2017) Inertial migration regimes of spherical particles suspended in square tube flows. Phys Rev Fluids 2:044201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sollier E, Amini H, Go DE, Sandoz PA, Owsley K, Di Carlo D (2015) Inertial microfluidic programming of microparticle-laden flows for solution transfer around cells and particles. Microfluid Nanofluid 19:53–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dinther AMC, Schroën CGPH, Imhof A, Vollebregt HM, Boom RM (2013) Flow-induced particle migration in microchannels for improved microfiltration processes. Microfluid Nanofluid 15:451–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vollebregt HM, van der Sman RGM, Boom RM (2012) Model for particle migration in bidisperse suspensions by use of effective temperature. Faraday Discuss 158:89–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiang N, Chen K, Dai Q, Jiang D, Sun D, Ni Z (2015) Inertia-induced focusing dynamics of microparticles throughout a curved microfluidic channel. Microfluid Nanofluid 18:29–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Yan S, Yuan D, Alici G, Nguyen NT, Ebrahimi Warkiani M, Li W (2016) Fundamentals and applications of inertial microfluidics: a review. Lab Chip 16:10–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Papautsky I (2013) Fundamentals of inertial focusing in microchannels. Lab Chip 13:1121–1132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Giridhar PV, Kasper S, Papautsky I (2013) Modulation of aspect ratio for complete separation in an inertial microfluidic channel. Lab Chip 13:1919–1929

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by the Fédération de Recherche FERMaT, FR 3089, Université de Toulouse, France and the China Scholarship Council (CSC N° 201304490076).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Clément Ader (ICA), CNRS, INSA, ISAE-SUPAERO, Mines-Albi, UPS, Université de Toulouse, 3 rue Caroline Aigle, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Yanfeng Gao, Pascale Magaud, Stéphane Colin & Lucien Baldas

  2. Université de Limoges, 33 rue François Mitterrand, 87032, Limoges, France

    Pascale Magaud

  3. Laboratoire d’Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Procédées (LISBP), CNRS, INRA, INSA, Université de Toulouse, 135 avenue de Rangueil, 31077, Toulouse, France

    Christine Lafforgue

Authors
  1. Yanfeng Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pascale Magaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christine Lafforgue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Stéphane Colin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lucien Baldas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucien Baldas.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gao, Y., Magaud, P., Lafforgue, C. et al. Inertial lateral migration and self-assembly of particles in bidisperse suspensions in microchannel flows. Microfluid Nanofluid 23, 93 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-019-2262-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-019-2262-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation