Fig 1.
Schematic illustration of the hybrid microchannel fabrication process.
The PDMS microchannel is produced by soft lithography, and the helical structure is fabricated by DLP 3D printing. The two parts are combined and bonded to a PDMS substrate to form the final device.
Fig 2.
Design and integration of the 3D-printed helical structure within the hybrid passive micromixer.
(a) Schematic illustration of the helical 3D-printed part, showing overall geometry and key dimensions, with an inset depicting the channel cross-section. (b) Schematic isometric view of the helical structure (c) Photograph of the 3D-printed element inserted into the microchannel, with an inset showing a microscopic image of the helical structure within the channel, demonstrating proper alignment and fit.
Fig 3.
The schematic representation of the hybrid device illustrates its geometry, dimensions, and computational mesh, which were used in the simulations conducted in this study.
Fig 4.
Design and mixing performance of passive micromixers.
(a) Schematic illustration of the design of different passive micromixers. (b) Predicted mixing performance of the hybrid micromixer compared to conventional micromixer designs at Re = 3.7.
Fig 5.
Experimental and numerical evaluation of hybrid micromixer performance.
Images taken during experiments conducted at flow rates of 30 µL/min (a) and 111 µL/min (b) with magnified views (c, d) of the mixing region contrasted against numerical predictions of mixing efficiency, and spatial snapshots of the concentration contours at different cut planes. (e) Quantitative comparison of mixing performance between experimental and simulated results. (f) Predicted results of mixing performance of the hybrid micromixer compared to a conventional Y-junction micromixer (without the 3D element).
Fig 6.
UV-Vis analysis of collected samples at different flow rates.
(a) Collected samples at different total flow rates (200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 μL/min), (b) UV-Vis spectra of five different total flow rates.
Fig 7.
Effect of Total Flow Rate on the Morphology and Size Distribution of Gold Nanoparticles.
SEM images of gold nanoparticles synthesized at total flow rates of 500 μL/min (a, b), 2000 μL/min (d, e), and 5000 μL/min (g, h) at different magnifications. Corresponding particle size distributions obtained from SEM analysis are shown for total flow rates of 500 μL/min (c), 2000 μL/min (f), and 5000 μL/min (i), with mean particle diameters and standard deviations indicated.