Title: Clogging in Asymmetric Microfluidic Pores

Author (Poster): Sorell Massenburg, Harvard University

Abstract:

Nearly every application involving fluid relies heavily upon filtration, yet filter design is not well understood. Design features, such as shape and pore size distribution, can be modeled in two dimensions using soft lithographic techniques to fabricate microscale pores in polydimethylsiloxane. We then clog these pores with polystyrene microparticles stabilized by carboxyl surface groups. Previous studies show that a probabilistic model accurately describes microfluidic channels clogged via hard spheres that are smaller than the channel. This model predicts that clogging behavior is determined by the smallest dimension of the pore (the constriction). We show that microfluidic channels modeled after pores in filter membranes do not follow this model. Contrasting our results to the aforementioned probabilistic model helps elucidate the function of various filter design features.