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Microfluidic separation of magnetic particles with soft magnetic microstructures

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Abstract

This paper demonstrates simple and cost-effective microfluidic devices for enhanced separation of magnetic particles by using soft magnetic microstructures. By injecting a mixture of iron powder and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into a prefabricated channel, an iron–PDMS microstructure was fabricated next to a microfluidic channel. Placed between two external permanent magnets, the magnetized iron–PDMS microstructure induces localized and strong forces on the magnetic particles in the direction perpendicular to the fluid flow. Due to the small distance between the microstructure and the fluid channel, the localized large magnetic field gradients result a vertical force on the magnetic particles, leading to enhanced separation of the particles. Numerical simulations were developed to compute the particle trajectories and agreed well with experimental data. Systematic experiments and numerical simulation were conducted to study the effect of relevant factors on the transport of superparamagnetic particles, including the shape of iron–PDMS microstructure, mass ratio of iron–PDMS composite, width of the microfluidic channel, and average flow velocity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology through a start-up package.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 400 W. 13th St., Rolla, MO, 65409, USA

    Ran Zhou & Cheng Wang

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  1. Ran Zhou
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  2. Cheng Wang
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Correspondence to Cheng Wang.

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Zhou, R., Wang, C. Microfluidic separation of magnetic particles with soft magnetic microstructures. Microfluid Nanofluid 20, 48 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-016-1714-5

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