Mass separation in an asymmetric channel

We present a mechanism to sort out particles of different masses in an asymmetric channel, where the entropic barriers arise naturally and control the diffusion of these particles. When particles are subjected to an oscillatory force, with the scaled amplitude a and frequency omega, the mean particle velocity exhibits a bell-shaped behavior as a function of the particle mass, indicating that particles with an optimal mass mop drift faster than other particles. By tuning a and omega, we get an empirical relation to estimate mop similar to (a omega 2)-0.4. An additional static bias, applied in the opposite direction of the rectified velocity, would push the particles of lighter mass to move in its direction while the others drift opposite to it. This study is useful to design lab-on-a-chip devices for separating particles of different masses.

Automated summary

This study introduces a mechanism to separate particles of different masses in a microfluidic channel using oscillatory force and static bias, providing a way to design lab-on-a-chip devices for particle separation.