How channel elasticity enhances and directs flow in dendritic microfluidic networks
Efstathios Mitropoulos, Claas-Hendrik Stamp, Arwin Marbini, Sebastian Milster, Joachim Dzubiella, Thomas Pfohl · 2025
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Description
Efstathios Mitropoulos and co-authors make microfluidic channels stretchy so fluids flow easier and go where told, in a 2025 paper. In blood vessels and lab chips alike, pressure drop throttles flow. Rigid walls cannot help; soft ones might, if placed with intent.
The team molded tree-like channel networks from silicone rubber in one step, swapping some wall segments for thin elastic membranes. Under pressure the membranes bulge, and the most elastic network's flow rose nonlinearly as compliance climbed. By choosing which branches got membranes, the researchers steered flow direction with pressure alone. The trick cuts pressure loss without exotic fabrication, and it turns a passive chip into one that reroutes fluid on command.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Efstathios Mitropoulos, Claas-Hendrik Stamp, Arwin Marbini, Sebastian Milster, Joachim Dzubiella, Thomas Pfohl |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 46 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |