Dispersion Studies of Pressure-Driven Flow in Deep-Reactive-Ion-Etched Microfluidic Channels

Most μ-TAS developments are based on non-circular channel structures resulting from microelectronics processing technologies adapted to the fabrication of microfluidic networks. The dispersion due to pressure-driven flow in a microfluidic channel is shown to be highly dependent on channel cross-sectional geometry. For channels having rectangular cross-sections, dispersion increased significantly due to the edge effect and upon slight tapering of the channel from top to bottom. The conclusions drawn from the experimental data and theory point to important design rules and optimization criteria for future μ-TAS FIA-based systems.