Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8LT, United Kingdom.
Langmuir. 2010 Jun 15;26(12):9416-22. doi: 10.1021/la1004243.
Multiphase microfluidics offer a wide range of functionalities in the fields of fluid dynamics, biology, particle synthesis, and, more recently, also in logical computation. In this article, we describe the hysteresis of immiscible, multiphase flow obtained in hydrophilic, microfluidic systems at a T-junction. Stable and unstable state behaviors, in the form of segmented and parallel flow patterns of oil and water, were reliably produced, depending upon the history of the flow rates applied to the phases. The transition mechanisms between the two states were analyzed both experimentally and using numerical simulations, describing how the physical and fluid dynamic parameters influenced the hysteretic behavior of the flow. The characteristics of these multiphase systems render them suitable to be used as pressure comparators and also for the implementation of microfluidic logic operations.
多相微流控技术在流体力学、生物学、颗粒合成等领域具有广泛的功能，最近也在逻辑计算领域得到了应用。本文描述了在亲水微流控系统 T 型分叉处获得的不混溶多相流的滞后现象。根据施加于各相的流速历史，可以可靠地产生稳定和不稳定状态行为，表现为油相和水相的分段和并行流型。通过实验和数值模拟分析了两种状态之间的转变机制，描述了物理和流体动力学参数如何影响流的滞后行为。这些多相系统的特点使得它们适合用作压力比较器，也适合实现微流控逻辑运算。
