Oscillating bubbles: a versatile tool for lab on a chip applications

Abstract

With the fast development of acoustic and multiphase microfluidics in recent years, oscillating bubbles have drawn more-and-more attention due to their great potential in various Lab on a Chip (LOC) applications. Many innovative bubble-based devices have been explored in the past decade. In this article, we first briefly summarize current understanding of the physics of oscillating bubbles, and then critically summarize recent advancements, including some of our original work, on the applications of oscillating bubbles in microfluidic devices. We intend to highlight the advantages of using oscillating bubbles along with the challenges that accompany them. We believe that these emerging studies on microfluidic oscillating bubbles will be revolutionary to the development of next-generation LOC technologies.