Research on the Separation Characteristics of Microplastic Particles in Straight-Channel Bionic Microfluidic Chips

XUE Jingtian; HU Xiao; LI Junjie; LIN Yongjie; HUANG Yingjie

doi:10.21656/1000-0887.460120

Volume 47 Issue 3

Mar. 2026

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Article Navigation > Applied Mathematics and Mechanics > 2026 > 47(3): 301-312

XUE Jingtian, HU Xiao, LI Junjie, LIN Yongjie, HUANG Yingjie. Research on the Separation Characteristics of Microplastic Particles in Straight-Channel Bionic Microfluidic Chips[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2026, 47(3): 301-312. doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.460120

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Research on the Separation Characteristics of Microplastic Particles in Straight-Channel Bionic Microfluidic Chips

doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.460120

Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Multiflow and Fluid Machinery, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, P.R.China

Received Date: 2025-06-10
Rev Recd Date: 2026-03-02
Publish Date: 2026-03-01

Abstract

Abstract

To optimize an efficient biomimetic microfluidic chip for the high-efficiency, high-throughput separation of micron-sized particles such as microplastics, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) coupled with discrete element method (DEM) numerical approach was employed to systematically investigate the internal flow field and particle separation mechanisms of a biomimetic microfluidic filtration structure. The 4 interesting particle separation mechanisms were summarized: at low Reynolds numbers, particles are separated through inertial focusing effects; at high Reynolds numbers, particles rely on the capture effect of vortices at the leading edge of the valve and the backflow effect between valves at the channel end to form 3 separation mechanisms. Finally, based on the mechanism analysis, the chip structure was optimized by increasing the cross-sectional length of the auxiliary channel, to achieve a maximum improvement of 7.9% in particle separation efficiency, an average reduction of 7.2% in the main channel flow rate, and a maximum increase of 9.4% in the production of clean filtrate. These findings provide a theoretical support for the optimized design of efficient bionic filtration membranes.
- microfluidics,
- bionic structure,
- microplastic particle,
- particle filtration,
- CFD-DEM

(Contributed by HU Xiao, M.AMM Youth Editorial Board)

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References(23)

References

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