Project R-13115

Scalable Bulk Acoustic Wave Solutions to Separate Micro- and Nanoparticles in Flow (AWESOME) (Research)

The field of acoustofluidics (integration of acoustics in microfluidics) is a fast growing research field addressing challenges in different fields such as biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering, and physics. In particular, acoustofluidic separation of microparticles in fluids has proven to be a powerful tool due to the label-free, biocompatible, and contact-free nature of the technology. Although this technology is widely supported, it has only penetrated in industry for a few niche applications involving large (bio)particles and low throughput. To make this technology ready for more widespread application, a separation resolution of less than a few μm in combination with scalable throughputs in the order of tenshundreds of mL is required. The objectives of the project are threefold. First, the size limit at which particles can be handled and separated will be reduced to 80 nm. New approaches will be used to induce acoustic forces that allow the manipulation of such smaller particles. A critical aspect in this development is that the acoustic resonance is maximized, for which accurate temperature control is needed. Next, innovative approaches will be developed to scale the technology, with a project target of 500 mL/min for a single microfluidic substrate. This process should be stable enough such that it can operate for at least 2 hours in a wide range of solid loads. Sensors will be included in the microfluidic chip which are capable of monitoring the temperature and local solid load, allowing for steering of the separation process. The same sensors can be used in the final stage to even check the quality, purity or yield of the separation. Finally, two demonstrations will be provided with streams relevant for the potential end users, one in a biomedical field, the other in a more industrial setting.

01 October 2022 - 30 September 2026