Many microfluidic systems require rapid mixing of different fluids within microchannels. While diffusion can be an effective mode of mixing in microchannels with predominantly laminar flows, it often requires prolonged mixing times and/or ideally increase of interfacial area. Introducing chaotic (but still laminar) flow patterns can aid mixing efficiency in microchannels. This strategy becomes even more important when mixing solutions with particularly low diffusion coefficients.

The 3D serpentine mixer has been developed especially to address this challenge in microfluidics. It is the perfect tool to investigate fast and efficient passive micromixing of up to three liquids