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Microfluidics and Nanofluidics 
October 2018, 22:119 | Cite as

Arrays of high aspect ratio magnetic microstructures for large trapping throughput in lab-on-chip systems



Here we report a novel technology to obtain arrays of highly efficient magnetic micro-traps that relies on simple fabrication process. Developed micro-traps consist in chains of iron particles diluted in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We analyzed the microstructure of the composite membrane by X-ray tomography. It revealed the predominance of aligned chain-like agglomerates. Largest traps, with diameter ranging from 4 to 11 µm, are found to be the most efficient. The trap arrays were characterized by a density of 1300 magnetic micro-traps/mm2, an average nearest neighbor distance of 21 µm. Implemented in a microfluidic channel operating at a relatively high flow rate of 0.97 µL/s—a flow velocity of 8.3 mm/s—we measured a trapping efficiency of more than 99.7%, with a throughput of up to 7100 trapped beads/min. These performances are competitive with other approaches like hydrodynamic trapping. The strengths of this technology are its simple fabrication and easy handling.


Lab-on-Chip Magnetophoresis Self-organization Single cell analysis



We wish to acknowledge support for the project from Ecole doctorale EEA and regional AURA financial support, Nanolyon technological platform, MATEIS lab for X-ray tomography analyses, and A. Piednoir for AFM characterization at ILM.








Mekkaoui, S., Le Roy, D., Audry, MC. et al. Microfluid Nanofluid (2018) 22: 119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-018-2141-6





