A review of microfluidic device applications

Abstract

Microfluidics has various applications, including micromixing, particle separation, micropumping, drug delivery, particle sorting, particle manipulation, etc. This paper reviews two types of microfluidic devices, i.e. micromixers and separation devices, that work based on active and passive methods. The active devices employ external actuators to improve their efficiency and the passive ones operate based on their geometry. It can be concluded that passive and active microfluidic devices have particular applications in different systems according to their major characteristics. Investigators may use hybrid techniques and new materials to industrialize the devices.