engineering

Microfluidics & Lab-on-a-Chip

The science and technology of manipulating fluids at the microscale — droplet generation in T-junctions, diffusion-based micromixing, electrowetting-driven digital microfluidics, capillary-driven flow through microchannels, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting on miniaturized lab-on-a-chip platforms.

microfluidicslab-on-a-chipdroplet generationmicromixingelectrowettingcapillary flowcell sortingPDMSbiomedical engineering

Microfluidics is the science of controlling fluids at the micrometer scale, where surface tension and viscosity dominate over inertia. Lab-on-a-chip devices leverage these physics to perform complex biochemical analyses — from DNA sequencing to drug screening — on platforms smaller than a credit card, using nanoliters of reagent instead of milliliters.

These simulations let you generate monodisperse droplets in T-junction geometries, study diffusion-driven mixing in laminar channels, control droplets with electrowetting forces, observe capillary-driven flow through narrow channels, and sort fluorescently labeled cells at thousands per second — all with real-time interactive parameter control.

5 interactive simulations

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Capillary-Driven Flow in Microchannels

Simulate capillary-driven flow through rectangular microchannels — explore how contact angle, channel dimensions, and fluid viscosity govern the Washburn flow dynamics

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Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)

Simulate microfluidic fluorescence-activated cell sorting — explore how flow speed, laser power, and sorting threshold affect purity and throughput

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T-Junction Droplet Generation

Simulate monodisperse droplet formation at a microfluidic T-junction — control flow rates, channel geometry, and interfacial tension to explore dripping and jetting regimes

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Digital Microfluidics: Electrowetting Control

Simulate electrowetting-on-dielectric droplet manipulation — control voltage, dielectric thickness, and droplet volume to explore contact angle modulation and droplet transport

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Diffusion-Based Laminar Micromixing

Simulate diffusion-driven mixing in laminar microchannels — explore how channel length, flow velocity, and diffusion coefficient affect mixing efficiency