Bubble-Enhanced Mixing Induced by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves (SSAWs) in Microchannel

Abstract

BAW-based micromixers usually achieve mixing enhancement with acoustic-induced bubbles, while SAW-based micromixers usually enhance mixing efficiency by varying the configuration of IDTs and microchannels. In this paper, bubble-enhanced acoustic mixing induced by standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) in a microchannel is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Significant enhancement in the mixing efficiency was achieved after the bubbles were stimulated in our acoustofluidic microdevice. With an applied voltage of 5 V, 50 times amplified, the proposed mixing microdevice could achieve 90.8% mixing efficiency within 60 s at a flow rate of 240 μL/h. The bubbles were generated from acoustic cavitation assisted by the temperature increase resulting from the viscous absorption of acoustic energy. Our results also suggest that a temperature increase is harmful to microfluidic devices and temperature monitoring. Regulation is essential, especially in chemical and biological applications.