Micromixers—a review

TLDR

This review reports recent progress in the development of micromixers. The review focuses on passive micromixers and their typical applications. It categorizes micromixers into passive and active types, discusses their design, operating conditions (Re, Pe, St), fabrication methods, and performance evaluation techniques.

Abstract

This review reports the progress on the recent development of micromixers. The review first presents the different micromixer types and designs. Micromixers in this review are categorized as passive micromixers and active micromixers. Due to the simple fabrication technology and the easy implementation in a complex microfluidic system, passive micromixers will be the focus of this review. Next, the review discusses the operation points of the micromixers based on characteristic dimensionless numbers such as Reynolds number Re, Peclet number Pe, and in dynamic cases the Strouhal number St. The fabrication technologies for different mixer types are also analysed. Quantification techniques for evaluation of the performance of micromixers are discussed. Finally, the review addresses typical applications of micromixers.