Microfluidic Devices

The growing demand for safer, cleaner, cheaper, substantially smaller, and more energy-efficient processes has boosted the interest in the development of Process Intensification (PI). The latter is a term that is defined by various scientists as a description of the revolutionary approach of miniaturizing the size of any chemical, bio-analytical, or pharmaceutical processes to achieve a certain production objective. The PI approach aims to replace the old, inefficient processes with new, high-performance ones based on products that could not be produced using conventional technologies.

Among other processes in microfluidic systems, the mixing of multiple miscible fluids is the core link in these integrated operations, where micromixers are usually incorporated as crucial components for achieving uniform and rapid mixing. Micromixers offer several advantages, over the counterpart macro-mixing devices, including compact design, high area-to-volume ratio, short mixing time, low risk of contamination, simpler process control, and ease of fabrication.