Publication

Abstract : Conventional micromixing methods are intricate, prolonged, and require substantial amounts of reagents, leading to increased expenses and challenges. Although microfluidic technology holds promise, developing a simple and cost-effective microfluidic mixing device capable of controlled sample production remains a significant challenge. In order to address these challenges, the present study introduces a novel passive micromixer that utilizes Koch snowflake fractal baffles (KSFB) employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. To the best of authors knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that incorporates Koch snowflake geometry with the aid of fractal principles. The mixing performance of the KSFB micromixer is optimized by tailoring various geometric and operational variables, with the mixing index serving as the target function. The mixing efficiency of the KSFB micromixer increases with the order of fractal iterations, the number of KSFB, and the distance between the KSFB at Reynolds number (Re), 0.1 ≤ Re ≤ 100. The findings demonstrate that the micromixer with the optimal staggered arrangement enhances chaotic advection and improves mixing efficiency. At Re = 100, the mixing efficiency reaches 99.70 %, surpassing the reference designs. This enhanced mixing efficiency of the KSFB micromixer shows considerable potential for widespread application including chemical synthesis and analysis, chemical reactors, drug delivery systems, biological analysis, and can also be integrated with μTAS (μ-total analysis system) or LOC (lab-on-a-chip) devices, alongside with less fabricating process and easy compactability than the existing micromixers.