Active Microfluidic Micromixer Design using Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites

Abstract

In most of the microfluidic applications, it is necessary to have a mixed fluid from the beginning, but in microchannels, due to facing with low Reynolds flows, the fluids flow in the channel by the laminar regimes. Hence the mixing process is a challenging problem and researchers are trying to present fast and reliable micromixers. In this paper, using Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMCs), an active micromixer has been designed. To investigate the appropriateness of IPMC, using experimental and simulation tests, we show that the IPMC actuator is a potential candidate as an active element of microfluidic micromixers.