This paper examines particle trapping and release in confined microvortex flows, including those near a solid surface due to variations in the electrokinetic slip velocity and those at a liquid-gas interface due to an external momentum source. We derive a general analytical solution for a two-dimensional microvortex flow within a semicircular cap. We also use a bifurcation theory on the kinetic equation of particles under various velocity and force fields to delineate the conditions for a vortex trap, a point trap, a limit cycle trap, and the selective sorting of the particles into different traps. In the presence of only divergence-free forces on suspended particles, we find that two parameters, such as those related to Stokes drag, gravity, and flow vorticity, are sufficient to classify all the trap topologies for a given slip velocity distribution. We also show that nondivergence-free forces such as nonuniform repulsion or attraction can capture suspended particles in one trap and selectively sort a binary suspension into different traps.

• Received 22 February 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.82.026308