Optofluidic Fiber Component for Separation and counting of Micron-Sized Particles

An all-fiber separation component capable of sorting and counting micron-sized particles based on size is presented. A sequence of silica fiber capillaries with various diameters and longitudinal cavities were used to fabricate the component for separation and detection in an uninterrupted flow. Fluorescence microparticles of 1 μm and 10 μm sizes are mixed in a visco-elastic fluid and infused into the all-fiber separation component. Elasto-inertial forces focus the larger particle to the center of the silica capillary, while the smaller microparticles exit from a side capillary. Analysis of the separated particles at the output showed a separation efficiency of 100% for the 10 μm and 97% for the 1 μm particles. In addition, the counting of the larger particles is demonstrated in the same flow. The separated 10 μm particles are further routed through another all-fiber component for counting. A counting speed of ~1400 particles/min and with the variation in amplitude of 10% is achived. A combination of separation and counting can be powerful tool may find several applications in biology and medicine, such as separation and analysis of exosomes, bacteria, and blood cell sub-populations.

Stabilizing effect of elasticity on the motion of viscoelastic/elastic fluids

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>It is well-known that viscoelasticity is a material property that exhibits both viscous and elastic characteristics with deformation. In particular, an elastic fluid strains when it is stretched and quickly returns to its original state once the stress is removed. In this review, we first introduce some mathematical results, which exhibit the stabilizing effect of elasticity on the motion of viscoelastic fluids. Then we further briefly introduce similar stabilizing effect in the elastic fluids.</p>