• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 2016

We report a finding of fast(exceeding 2,000 K/s) heating of polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS), one of the most commonly-used microchannel materials, under cyclic loadings at high(~MHz) frequencies. A microheater was created based on the finding. The heating mechanism utilized vibration damping of sound waves, which were generated and precisely manipulated using a conventional surface acoustic wave(SAW) microfluidic system, in PDMS. The penetration depths were measured to range from $210{\mu}m$ to $1290{\mu}m$, enough to cover most microchannel heights in microfluidic systems. The energy conversion efficiency was SAW frequency-dependent and measured to be the highest at around 30 MHz. Independent actuation of each interdigital transducer(IDT) enabled independent manipulation of SAWs, permitting spatiotemporal control of temperature on the microchip. All the advantages of this microheater facilitated a two-step continuous flow polymerase chain reaction(CFPCR) to achieve the billion-fold amplification of a 134 bp DNA amplicon in less than 3 min. In addition, a technique was developed for establishing dynamic free-form temperature gradients(TGs) in PDMS as well as in gases in contact with the PDMS.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1289-1297
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• 2005

The flow in a microchannel is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved. In this regard, we developed a novel chaotic micromixer, named Serpentine Laminating Micromixer (SLM) in the present study, Part 1. In the SLM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: splitting/recombination and chaotic advection. The splitting and recombination (in other term, lamination) mechanism is obtained by the successive arrangement of 'F'-shape mixing units in two layers. The chaotic advection is induced by the overall three-dimensional serpentine path of the microchannel. Chaotic mixing performance of the SLM was fully characterized numerically. To compare the mixing performance, a T-type micromixer which has the same width, height and length of the SLM was also designed. The three-dimensional numerical mixing simulations show the superiority of the SLM over the T-type micromixer. From the cross-sectional simulation results of mixing patterns, the chaotic advection effect from the serpentine channel path design acts favorably to realize the ideal lamination of fluid flow as Re increases. Chaotic mixing mechanism, proposed in this study, could be easily integrated in Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-Chip and so on.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.11 no.3 s.34
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• pp.46-51
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• 2006

This paper presents the numerical results of fluid flow and mixing in a microfluidic device for electro-osmotic flow (EOF) with an trapezoidal electrode array on the bottom wall (ETZEA). Differently from previous EOF in a channel which only transports fluid in colloidal system. ETZEA can also be utilized to mix a target liquid with a reagent. In this study we propose a method of controlling fluid flow and mixing enhancement. To obtain the flow and mixing characteristics, numerical computations are performed by using a commercial code, CFX-10, and a self-made code LBM-D. It was found that the flow near the trapezoidal electrode in the ETZEA is of 3-D complex flows due to the zeta potential difference between the trapezoidal electrode and channel walls, and as a consequence the hetrogeneous zeta potential on the electrodes plays an important role in mixing the liquid.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.11-16
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• 2021

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems, which are superior to conventional two-dimensional (2D) vascular systems that mimic the in vivo environment, are being actively studied to reproduce drug responses and cell differentiation in organisms. Conventional two-dimensional cell culture methods (scaffold-based and non-scaffold-based) have a limited cell growth rate because the culture cannot supply the culture medium as consistently as microvessels. To solve this problem, we would like to propose a 3D culture system with an environment similar to living cells by continuously supplying the culture medium to the bottom of the 3D cell support. The 3D culture system is a structure in which microvascular structures are combined under a scaffold (agar, collagen, etc.) where cells can settle and grow. First, we have manufactured molds for the formation of four types of microvessel-mimicking chips: width / height ①100 ㎛ / 100 ㎛, ②100 ㎛ / 50 ㎛, ③ 150 ㎛ / 100 ㎛, and ④ 200 ㎛ / 100 ㎛. By injection molding, four types of microfluidic chips were made with GPPS (general purpose polystyrene), and a 100㎛-thick PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) film was attached to the top of each microfluidic chip. As a result of observing the flow of the culture medium in the microchannel, it was confirmed that when the aspect ratio (height/width) of the microchannel is 1.5 or more, the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet without a backflow phenomenon. In addition, the culture efficiency experiments of colorectal cancer cells (SW490) were performed in a 3D culture system in which PDMS films with different pore diameters (1/25/45 ㎛) were combined on a microfluidic chip. As a result, it was found that the cell growth rate increased up to 1.3 times and the cell death rate decreased by 71% as a result of the 3D culture system having a hole membrane with a diameter of 10 ㎛ or more compared to the conventional commercial. Based on the results of this study, it is possible to expand and build various 3D cell culture systems that can maximize cell culture efficiency by cell type by adjusting the shape of the microchannel, the size of the film hole, and the flow rate of the inlet.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2007

This paper presents numerical results of fluid flows and mixing in a microfluidic device with AC electroosmotic flows (AC-EOF) around coplanar electrodes attached on the top and bottom walls. To obtain the flow and mixing characteristics, numerical computations are performed by using a commercial code, CFX10. Experiment was performed to confirm the generation of the drift velocity around the electrodes. It was found that near the coplanar electrodes 3-D complex flows are generated. The AC-electroosmotic flow on the electrodes plays an important role in mixing the liquid.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.89-92
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• 2005

A microcapsule for drug delivery was successfully produced by utilizing the flow-through droplet-based supramolecular self-assembly in a crossed microchannel network. The PS-b-PMMA block copolymer synthesized atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was initially formed as microdroplets and after the evaporation process it turned to spherical capsule by polymer self-assembly of the micro domains. The characteristics were studied using various analysis methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.221-231
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• 2004

A kinetic theory analysis is made of low-speed gas flows in a microfluidic system consisted of three microchannels in series. The Boitzmann equation simplified by a collision model is solved by means of a finite difference approximation with the discrete ordinate method. For the evaluation of the present method results are compared with those from the DSMC method and an analytical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations with slip boundary conditions. Calculations are made for flows at various Knudsen numbers and pressure ratios across the channel. The results compared well with those from the DSMC method. It is shown that the analytical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations with slip boundary conditions which is suited fur fully developed flows can give relatively good results. In predicting the geometrically complex flows up to a Knudsen number of about 0.06. It is also shown that the present method can be used to analyze extremely low-speed flow fields for which the DSMC method is Impractical.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.235-240
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• 2013

This paper presents a disposable microfluidic infusion pump using the restoring force of elastomeric membrane of Polydimethylsiloxane. Microfluidic infusion pump consists of hydraulic resistance control part, elastomeric blister actuator part, drug inlet and outlet. Expanded elastomeric blister actuator continuously pushes liquid in the chamber to outlet. At same time, microchannel diameter near the outlet was controlled by thin elastomeric membrane in hydraulic resistance control part. Eventually flow rate of infused liquid is controlled by air pressure. In experimental study, the amount of the filled liquid in the blister is precisely controlled by the height of the blister. Flow rate of infused liquid could be controlled, that is, controlled release of the drug over time was possible by adjusting hydraulic resistance and restoring pressure with the blister actuator.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.419-422
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• 2002

A three-dimensional inlet flow structure inside a microfluidic element has been investigated using a micro-PIV(particle image velocimetry) measurement as well as a numerical analysis. The present study employs a state-of-art micro-PIV system which consists of epi-fluorescence microscope, 620nm diameter fluorescent seed particles and an 8-bit megapixel CCD camera. For the numerical analysis, a commercial software CFD-ACE+(V6.6) was employed for comparison with experimental data. Fixed pressure boundary condition and a 39900 structured grid system was used for numerical analysis. Velocity vector fields with a resolution of $6.7{\times}6.7{\mu}m$ has been obtained, and the attention has been paid on the effect of varying measurement conditions of particle diameter and particle concentration on the resulting PIV results. In this study, the microfluidic elements were fabricated on plastic chips by means of MEMS processes and a subsequent melding process.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.400-404
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• 2001

A micro-PIV(particle image velocimetry) measurement has been conducted to investigate flow fields in such microfluidic devices as microchannels and micronozzle. The present study employs a state-of-art micro-PIV system which consists of epi-fluorescence microscope, 620nm diameter fluorescent seed particles and an 8-bit megapixel CCD camera. Velocity vector fields with a resolution of $6.7\times6.7{\mu}m$ has been obtained, and the attention has been paid on the effect of varying measurement conditions of particle diameter and particle concentration on the resulting PIV results. In this study, the microfluidic elements were fabricated on plastic chips by means of MEMS processes and a subsequent molding process. Flow fields in a variety of microchannels as well as micronozzle have been investigated.