Micromixing devices often utilize complex architectures to mix miscible liquid streams and can be complex and expensive to fabricate. Here, we developed, built, experimentally tested, and computationally analyzed a serpentine micromixer that can be fabricated using simple tools and supplies available in non-microdevice dedicated laboratories. Fluorescence imaging was used to quantify its mixing effectiveness experimentally. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package (COMSOL) was used to model the micromixing process. The predictions were in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The serpentine micromixer can achieve significant levels of mixing efficiency. CFD predictions for a straight microfluidic channel of the same length as the serpentine favorably compared with previous theoretical predictions, indicating that the serpentine's mixing efficiency was vastly superior. Finally, CFD predictions were conducted for different and possibly improved designs of the basic serpentine. In all cases, the mixing efficiency was primarily associated with the number of 90o elbows in the device rather than the straight sections' length, with the first serpentine bend playing a significant role. Future design improvements should focus on incorporating as many elbows as possible in the device to maximize mixing efficiency and reduce the device size.

微混合装置通常利用复杂的结构来混合可混溶的液体流，并且制造起来可能很复杂且昂贵。在这里，我们开发，构建，实验测试和计算分析了蛇形微型混合器，可以使用简单的工具和非微型设备专用实验室中的备件来制造蛇形微型混合器。荧光成像被用来量化其混合效果的实验。使用计算流体动力学（CFD）软件包（COMSOL）对微混合过程进行建模。这些预测与实验数据非常吻合。蛇形微混合器可以实现显着水平的混合效率。与先前的理论预测相比，与蛇形长度相同的直的微流体通道的CFD预测具有优势，表明蛇纹石的混合效率非常优越。最后，针对基本蛇纹石的不同设计和可能的改进设计进行了CFD预测。在所有情况下，混合效率主要与设备中90o弯头的数量有关，而不是与笔直部分的长度有关，而第一个蛇形弯管起着重要作用。未来的设计改进应集中在将尽可能多的弯头引入设备中，以最大程度地提高混合效率并减小设备尺寸。第一个蛇形弯管起着重要作用。未来的设计改进应集中于在设备中尽可能多地合并弯头，以最大程度地提高混合效率并减小设备尺寸。第一个蛇形弯管起着重要作用。未来的设计改进应集中于在设备中尽可能多地合并弯头，以最大程度地提高混合效率并减小设备尺寸。