Continuous Inertial Focusing and Separation of Particles by Shape

Autor: Mahdokht Masaeli, Elodie Sollier, Hamed Amini, Wenbin Mao, Kathryn Camacho, Nishit Doshi, Samir Mitragotri, Alexander Alexeev, Dino Di Carlo
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Physical Review X, Vol 2, Iss 3, p 031017 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2160-3308
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.2.031017
Popis: An effective approach to separating shaped particles is needed to isolate disease-causing cells for diagnostics or to aid in purifying nonspherical particles in applications ranging from food science to drug delivery. However, the separation of shaped particles is generally challenging, since nonspherical particles can freely rotate and present different faces while being sorted. We experimentally and numerically show that inertial fluid-dynamic effects allow for shape-dependent separation of flowing particles. (Spheres and rods with aspect ratios of 3∶1 and 5∶1 have all been separable.) Particle rotation around a conserved axis following Jeffery orbits is found to be a necessary component in producing different equilibrium positions across the channel that depend on particle rotational diameter. These differences are large enough to enable passive, continuous, high-purity, high-throughput, and shape-based separation downstream. Furthermore, we show that this shape-based separation can be applied to a large range of particle sizes and types, including small, artificially made 3-μm particles as well as bioparticles such as yeast. This practical approach for sorting particles by a previously inaccessible geometric parameter opens up a new capability that should find use in a range of fields.
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