Acoustic waves may be able to control how particles sort themselves. While researchers have been able to separate particles based on their shape — for example, bacteria from other cells — for years, the ability to control their movement has remained a largely unsolved problem, until now. Using ultrasound technology and a nozzle, Penn State researchers have separated, controlled and ejected different particles based on their shape and various properties.
They published their results in the journal Small.
“We engineered a microchannel nozzle and applied ultrasound energy to the system,” said corresponding author Igor Aronson, the Penn State Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of chemistry and of mathematics. “The nozzle plays two roles. It concentrates fluid flow, which is something other researchers have done. But in addition to that, the walls of the nozzle reflect the acoustic waves of the ultrasound energy.”
Read more at: Penn State University
Penn State biomedical engineering graduate student Leonardo Dominguez Rubio, left, and Penn State Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering Igor Aronson are part of a team that used ultrasound technology and a nozzle to separate, control and eject different particles based on their shape and various properties. (Photo Credit: Penn State College of Engineering)