Lattice Boltzmann method for microfluidics: models and applications

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has experienced tremendous advances and has been well accepted as a useful method to simulate various fluid behaviors. For computational microfluidics, LBM may present some advantages, including the physical representation of microscopic interactions, the uniform algorithm for multiphase flows, and the easiness in dealing with complex boundary. In addition, LBM-like algorithms have been developed to solve microfluidics-related processes and phenomena, such as heat transfer, electric/magnetic field, and diffusion. This article provides a practical overview of these LBM models and implementation details for external force, initial condition, and boundary condition. Moreover, recent LBM applications in various microfluidic situations have been reviewed, including microscopic gaseous flows, surface wettability and solid-liquid interfacial slip, multiphase flows in microchannels, electrokinetic flows, interface deformation in electric/magnetic field, flows through porous structures, and biological microflows. These simulations show some examples of the capability and efficiency of LBM in computational microfluidics.