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Trapping microswimmers in acoustic streaming flow

Xuyang Sun,Wen-chang Tan,Yi Man

Published 2025 in Journal of Fluid Mechanics

ABSTRACT

The acoustofluidic method holds great promise for manipulating micro-organisms. When exposed to the steady vortex structures of acoustic streaming flow, these micro-organisms exhibit intriguing dynamic behaviours, such as hydrodynamic trapping and aggregation. To uncover the mechanisms behind these behaviours, we investigate the swimming dynamics of both passive and active particles within a two-dimensional acoustic streaming flow. By employing a theoretically calculated streaming flow field, we demonstrate the existence of stable bounded orbits for particles. Additionally, we introduce rotational diffusion and examine the distribution of particles under varying flow strengths. Our findings reveal that active particles can laterally migrate across streamlines and become trapped in stable bounded orbits closer to the vortex centre, whereas passive particles are confined to movement along the streamlines. We emphasise the influence of the flow field on the distribution and trapping of active particles, identifying a flow configuration that maximises their aggregation. These insights contribute to the manipulation of microswimmers and the development of innovative biological microfluidic chips.

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