Inertial Focusing and Separation of Particles in Similar Curved Channels

Inertial particle focusing in curved channels has enormous potential for lab-on-a-chip applications. This paper compares a zigzag channel, which has not been used previously for inertial focusing studies, with a serpentine channel and a square wave channel to explore their differences in terms of focusing performance and separation possibilities. The particle trajectories and fluid fields in the curved channels are studied by a numerical simulation. The effects of different conditions (structure, Reynolds number, and particle size) on the competition between forces and the focusing performance are studied. The results indicate that the zigzag channel has the best focusing effect at a high Reynolds number and that the serpentine channel is second in terms of performance. Regarding the particle separation potential, the zigzag channel has a good performance in separating 5 μm and 10 μm particles at ReC = 62.5. In addition, the pressure drop of the channel is also considered to evaluate the channel performance, which has not been taken into account in the literature on inertial microfluidics. This result is expected to be instructive for the selection and optimization of inertial microchannel structures.