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Acoustic Nanoparticle Trapping Is Driven by Synergy between Acoustic and Hydrodynamic Interactions

Alen Pavlič* and Thierry Baasch†

  • *Contact author: apavlic@caltech.edu
  • †Contact author: Thierry.Baasch@bme.lth.se
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 187201 – Published 28 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6l7z-bjzy

Abstract

Acoustic forces occurring in resonant microfluidic chambers allow the handling of micrometer-sized particles. Trapping of nanoparticles has been shown for high particle concentrations and after preseeding the chamber with larger particles. We show that the trapping mechanism is due to synergy between hydrodynamic shielding and acoustic forces. Acoustic interactions are significant only when seed particles are involved and are negligible when trapping monodisperse particles. Density-selective nanoparticle trapping is suggested based on the numerical results.

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synopsis

Trapping Tiny Objects with Sound

Published 28 October, 2025

Fluid flow and acoustic waves act together to trap nanoparticles.

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Supplemental Material

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 187201– Published 28 October, 2025
  • Received 4 June 2025
  • Revised 10 September 2025
  • Accepted 15 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

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