Control of Ferrofluid Droplets in Microchannels by Uniform Magnetic Fields

• Main Authors: Varma, Vijaykumar B., Ray, Ayan, Wang, Zhaomeng, Wang, Zhiping, Wu, Ruige, Jayaneel, P. J., Sudharsan, Natteri Mangadu, Ramanujan, Raju V.
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Magnetic fields; droplet micromagnetofluidics; ferrofluid droplets; Lab-on-a-chip; Magnetochemistry
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84112; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41620
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Magnetic droplets are versatile tools for a range of lab-on-a-chip (LoC) applications. The combination of a uniform magnetic field and magnetic droplet offers wireless and programmable manipulation. We performed LoC experiments and numerical studies on ferrofluid droplets under the influence of a uniform magnetic field. The dynamic behavior of flowing ferrofluid droplets was examined. The droplet size, shape, inter-droplet spacing and velocity could be controlled by tuning the magnetic susceptibility of the ferrofluid, the viscosity of the carrier medium, and the flow rates. Our droplet-based micromagnetofluidic numerical model is in good agreement with our experiments. These studies are useful for magnetic droplet control and mixing in a LoC using a uniform magnetic field.