Presentation of the Study. To study the effect of the zigzag
geometry, four derived configurations featuring a periodic step
(s) of 100, 200, 400, and 800 ím are envisaged and schematically
represented in Figure 2a-d, respectively. The width of the channel
remains similar for the four geometries (i.e., 100 ím). To compare
these geometries, two straight channels corresponding to asymptotic
values of s are schemed in Figure 2 and represent the
reference microchannels. Figure 2e and f illustrates both reference
cases, A for s f 0 and B for s f ¥ respectively. Because of the
presence of numerous 90° angles in reference case A, the channel
width is multiplied by a x2 factor, which corresponds to an
effective cross section of 141 ím. For reference case B, the
effective width remains unchanged to 100 ím while the effective
length of the channel is enhanced by the same x2 factor (i.e. L
) 2828 ím). In addition, a third reference channel (reference case
C) featuring a width of 100 ím and length of 2000 ím is introduced
in the study.