Design and fluid-structure interaction analysis for a microfluidic T-junction with chemo-responsive hydrogel valves

doi:10.1007/s10483-020-2618-6

Abstract

Abstract: Due to the deformation ability even under small loads, hydrogels have been widely used as a type of soft materials in various applications such as actuating and sensing, and have attracted many researchers to study their behaviors. In this paper, the behavior of hydrogel micro-valves with reverse sensitivity to the pH inside a T-junction flow sorter is investigated. With the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach, the effects of various parameters such as the inlet pressure and the pH value on the stress and deformation of the micro-valves are examined, and the results with and without FSI, including the flow rate and the closure pH, are compared. In order to reduce the response time of hydrogels, the effects of three different patterns on the performance of the microvalves are explored. Eventually, it is concluded that FSI is a key influential factor in designing and analyzing the behaviors of hydrogels.

Key words: hydrogel, pH-sensitive, T-junction flow sorter, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), micro-valve

2010 MSC Number:

65M06
65M12

E. KHANJANI, A. HAJARIAN, A. KARGAR-ESTAHBANATY, N. ARBABI, A. TAHERI, M. BAGHANI. Design and fluid-structure interaction analysis for a microfluidic T-junction with chemo-responsive hydrogel valves. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 2020, 41(6): 939-952.

TrendMD

References

[1] BAYAT, M. R., DOLATABADI, R., and BAGHANI, M. Transient swelling response of pHsensitive hydrogels:a monophasic constitutive model and numerical implementation. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 577, 119030(2020)
[2] LI, H. Kinetics of smart hydrogels responding to electric field:a transient deformation analysis. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 46, 1326-1333(2009)
[3] DOI, M. Gel dynamics. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 78, 052001(2009)
[4] TANAKA, T., FILLMORE, D., and SUN, S. T. Phase transitions in ionic gels. Physical Review Letters, 45, 1636(1980)
[5] CAI, S. and SUO, Z. Mechanics and chemical thermodynamics of phase transition in temperaturesensitive hydrogels. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 59, 2259-2278(2011)
[6] HONG, W., ZHAO, X., and SUO, Z. Large deformation and electrochemistry of polyelectrolyte gels. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 58, 558-577(2010)
[7] AHN, S. K., KASI, R. M., KIM, S. C., SHARMA, N., and ZHOU, Y. X. Stimuli-responsive polymer gels. Soft Matter, 4, 1151-1157(2008)
[8] MARCOMBE, R., CAI, S. Q., HONG, W., ZHAO, X. H., and SUO, Z. G. A theory of constrained swelling of a pH-sensitive hydrogel. Soft Matter, 6, 784-793(2010)
[9] ZHU, J. and MARCHANT, R. E. Design properties of hydrogel tissue-engineering scaffolds. Expert Review of Medical Devices, 8, 607-626(2011)
[10] MAJCHER, M. J. and HOARE, T. Applications of hydrogels. Functional Biopolymers, Springer International Publishing, Switzerland, 453-490(2019)
[11] HE, T., LI, M., and ZHOU, J. Modeling deformation and contacts of pH sensitive hydrogels for microfluidic flow control. Soft Matter, 8, 3083-3089(2012)
[12] COELHO, E., COSTA, L. O. B. F., ALENCAR, A. V., BARBOSA, A. P. G., PINTO, F. C. M., and AGUIAR, J. L. D. Prevention of peritoneal adhesion using a bacterial cellulose hydrogel, in experimental study. Acta Cirurgica Brasileira, 30, 194-198(2015)
[13] PEREIRA, R. F. and BARTOLO, P. J. Traditional therapies for skin wound healing. Advances in Wound Care, 5, 208-229(2016)
[14] CALÓ, E. and KHUTORYANSKIY, V. V. Biomedical applications of hydrogels:a review of patents and commercial products. European Polymer Journal, 65, 252-267(2015)
[15] THONIYOT, P., TAN, M. J., KARIM, A. A., YOUNG, D. J., and LOH, X. J. Nanoparticlehydrogel composites:concept, design, and applications of these promising, multi-functional materials. Advanced Science, 2, 1400010(2015)
[16] LIU, W. Y., REN, Y. K., CHEN, F., SONG, J. N., TAO, Y., DU, K., and WU, Q. S. A microscopic physical description of electrothermal-induced flow for control of ion current transport in microfluidics interfacing nanofluidics. Electrophoresis, 40, 2683-2698(2019)
[17] LEE, Y. J. and BRAUN, P. V. Tunable inverse opal hydrogel pH sensors. Advanced Materials, 15, 563-566(2003)
[18] ABDOLAHI, J., BAGHANI, M., ARBABI, N., and MAZAHERI, H. Analytical and numerical analysis of swelling-induced large bending of thermally-activated hydrogel bilayers. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 99, 1-11(2016)
[19] BEEBE, D. J., MOORE, J. S., BAUER, J. M., YU, Q., LIU, R. H., DEVADOSS, C., and JO, B. H. Functional hydrogel structures for autonomous flow control inside microfluidic channels. nature, 404, 588(2000)
[20] YU, Q., BAUER, J. M., MOORE, J. S., and BEEBE, D. J. Responsive biomimetic hydrogel valve for microfluidics. Applied Physics Letters, 78, 2589-2591(2001)
[21] CALVERT, P. Hydrogels for soft machines. Advanced Materials, 21, 743-756(2009)
[22] BEEBE, D. J., MOORE, J. S., YU, Q., LIU, R. H., KRAFT, M. L., JO, B. H., and DEVADOSS, C. Microfluidic tectonics:a comprehensive construction platform for microfluidic systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 13488-13493(2000)
[23] CHESTER, S. A. and ANAND, L. A thermo-mechanically coupled theory for fluid permeation in elastomeric materials:application to thermally responsive gels. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 59, 1978-2006(2011)
[24] FLORY, P. J. Thermodynamics of high polymer solutions. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 10, 51-61(1942)
[25] TOH, W., NG, T. Y., LIU, Z. S., and HU, J. Y. Deformation kinetics of pH-sensitive hydrogels. Polymer International, 63, 1578-1583(2014)
[26] ZHENG, S., LI, Z., and LIU, Z. The fast homogeneous diffusion of hydrogel under different stimuli. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 137, 263-270(2018)
[27] LIU, Z., TOH, W., and NG, T. Y. Advances in mechanics of soft materials:a review of large deformation behavior of hydrogels. International Journal of Applied Mechanics, 7, 1530001(2015)
[28] NAGHDABADI, R., BAGHANI, M., and ARGHAVANI, J. A viscoelastic constitutive model for compressible polymers based on logarithmic strain and its finite element implementation. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 62, 18-27(2012)
[29] HONG, W., LIU, Z., and SUO, Z. Inhomogeneous swelling of a gel in equilibrium with a solvent and mechanical load. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 46, 3282-3289(2009)
[30] ARBABI, N., BAGHANI, M., ABDOLAHI, J., MAZAHERI, H., and MOSAVI-MASHHADI, M. Study on pH-sensitive hydrogel micro-valves:a fluid-structure interaction approach. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, 28, 1589-1602(2017)
[31] QATO, L., SANTHANAM, S., JONES, G. F., and NATHAN, R. A fluid structure interaction study of a viscous mechanism for energy absorption in protective structural panels. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 83, 22-32(2014)
[32] ZHANG, Y., LIU, Z. S., SWADDIWUDHIPONG, S., MIAO, H. Y., DING, Z. W., and YANG, Z. Z. pH-sensitive hydrogel for micro-fluidic valve. Journal of Functional Biomaterials, 3, 464-479(2012)
[33] BAYAT, M. R. and BAGHANI, M. Fully-coupled transient fluid-solid interaction simulation of the pH-sensitive hydrogel-based microvalve. International Journal of Applied Mechanics, 11, 1950071(2019)
[34] ARAKAWA, T., SHIRASAKI, Y., and AOKI, T. Three-dimensional sheath flow sorting microsystem using thermosensitive hydrogel. Sensors and Actuators A:Physical, 135, 99-105(2007)
[35] DROZDOV, A. Swelling of pH-responsive cationic gels:constitutive modeling and structureproperty relations. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 64, 176-190(2015)
[36] HUGGINS, M. L. Solutions of long chain compounds. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 9, 440-440(1941)
[37] TSAI, C. H. D. and LIN, X. Y. Experimental study on microfluidic mixing with different zigzag angles. Micromachines, 10, 583(2019)