| Summary: | In this study, we discuss the development of a mixer that incorporates a moving interface formed by placing two gas–liquid free interfaces into a conventional straight-flow micromixer. We restricted the movement of the interfaces in a direction normal to the flow of the liquid, in order to first promote molecular diffusion by reducing the diffusion distance, and second enhance convective diffusion caused by unsteady flow. We investigated these mixing effects and characteristics in physical experiments along with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and compare the results. We found that the imposition of the gas–liquid free interfaces in the channel affected mixing, and that the effect of unsteady flow was small near the moving interfaces. We concluded that the acceleration of convective transport caused by the change of flow direction enhanced mixing.
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