Sai Yuushi, Yamada Masumi, Yasuda Masahiro, Seki Minoru
Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan.
J Chromatogr A. 2006 Sep 15;1127(1-2):214-20. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2006.05.020. Epub 2006 Aug 7.
We propose herein an improved microfluidic system for continuous and precise particle separation. We have previously proposed a method for particle separation called "pinched flow fractionation." Using the previously reported method, particles can be continuously separated according to differences in their diameters, simply by introducing liquid flows with and without particles into a specific microchannel structure. In this study, we incorporated PDMS membrane microvalves for flow rate control into the microfluidic device to improve the separation accuracy. By adjusting the flow rates distributed to each outlet, target particles could be precisely collected from the desired outlet. We succeeded in separating micron and submicron-size polymer particles. This method can be used widely for continuous and precise separation of various kinds of particles, and can function as an important part of microfluidic systems.
我们在此提出一种用于连续且精确的颗粒分离的改进型微流控系统。我们之前提出了一种名为“夹流分级”的颗粒分离方法。使用先前报道的方法，只需将含有和不含颗粒的液体流引入特定的微通道结构中，就能根据颗粒直径的差异连续分离颗粒。在本研究中，我们在微流控装置中加入了用于流量控制的聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）膜微阀，以提高分离精度。通过调整分配到每个出口的流量，可以从所需出口精确收集目标颗粒。我们成功分离了微米级和亚微米级的聚合物颗粒。该方法可广泛用于各种颗粒的连续且精确的分离，并可作为微流控系统的重要组成部分。
