A pneumatic micropump incorporated with a normally closed valve capable of generating a high pumping rate and a high back pressure

This study reports on a new pneumatic micropump integrated with a normally closed valve that is capable of generating a high pumping rate and a high back pressure. The micropump consists of a sample flow microchannel, three underlying pneumatic air chambers, resilient polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane structures and a normally closed valve. The normally closed valve of the micropump is a PDMS-based floating block structure located inside the sample flow microchannel, which is activated by hydraulic pressure created by the peristaltic motion of the PDMS membranes. The valve is used to effectively increase pumping rates and back pressures since it is utilized to prevent backflow. Experimental results indicate that a pumping rate as high as 900 μL/min at a driving frequency of 90 Hz and at an applied pressure of 20 psi (1.378 × 10⁵ Nt/m²) can be obtained. The back pressure on the micropump can be as high as 85 cm-H₂O (8,610.5 Nt/m²) at the same operation conditions. The micropump is fabricated by soft lithography processes and can be easily integrated with other microfluidic devices. To demonstrate its capability to prevent cross contamination during chemical analysis applications, two micropumps and a V-shape channel are integrated to perform a titration of two chemical solutions, specifically sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and benzoic acid (C₆H₅COOH). Experimental data show that mixing with a pH value ranging from 2.8 to 12.3 can be successfully titrated. The development of this micropump can be a promising approach for further biomedical and chemical analysis applications.     

Study of an innovative one-sided actuating piezoelectric valveless micropump with a secondary chamber

Previous studies have indicated that a one-sided actuating piezoelectric micropump (OAPMP) combined with two valves may enhance the liquid flow rate to 4.1 ml/s and make it possible to reach the maximum pump head of 9807 Pa in a limited space. In this study, an innovative one-sided actuating piezoelectric valveless micropump (OAPMP-valveless) has been developed to actuate fluid at a higher flow rate in one direction by adding a secondary chamber. The secondary chamber plays a key role in the application of the valveless micropump: the flow rate of the pump can reach 0.989 ml/s by adding a secondary chamber. The maximum pump head is 1522.5 Pa when using the 0.3 mm-thick secondary diaphragm and the 0.5 mm-thick primary diaphragm. In addition, if a nozzle/diffuser element is applied to the OAPMP-valveless with a secondary chamber, the flow rate can be further improved to 1.183 ml/s at a frequency of 150 Hz. A three-dimensional numerical model of the valveless micropump has been built to compare the measured results with the simulated results.     

Pumping with electroosmosis of the second kind in mesoporous skeletons

This paper presents the use of mesoporous silica skeletons as substrates for electroosmotic (EO) micropumps. Mesoporous silica skeletons have bimodal pore size distributions consisting of macropores and cation-permselective mesopores. These materials have the potential for high flow rate per power because the cation-permselective mesopores can generate an induced charge layer (ICL) and electroosmosis of the second kind (EO-2) under high applied electric fields. The diffuse charge layers induced by the electric field result in an EO-2 flow rate that increases quadratically with increasing electric field. In contrast, the flow rate of the more common electroosmosis of the first kind (EO-1) is linearly proportional to electric field. Here, we investigate the impact of finite pressure loads on the EO-2 flow rate with experiments and an engineering model to evaluate the potential of mesoporous skeletons for micropumping applications. Our results include analyses of maximum flow rate, maximum pressure, and flow rate with intermediate pressure loads. The results indicate the existence of a critical pressure load at which reverse pressure-driven flow significantly diminishes the EO-2 flow. We also investigate the scaling of flow rate per power with respect to substrate thickness and area, demonstrating significant increases in flow rate per power with thinner substrates and favorable scaling for miniaturization of EO-2 pumps.     

An integrated microfluidic system for fast, automatic detection of C-reactive protein

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a well-known inflammation marker in human beings. This study reports a new microfluidic system for fast, automatic detection of CRP. It contains pneumatic micropumps, a vortex-type micromixer, a pneumatic micro-injector and several microvalves to automatically perform the entire protocol for CRP detection. This includes sample/reagent transportation, incubation between the target CRP and a CRP-specific aptamer, washing processes, and the chemiluminescence development process. In addition, the chemiluminescence signal is measured by using a custom-made optical system which consists of a photomultiplier tube, a portable air compressor and eight electronic magnet valves to quantify the concentration of CRP. When compared to previous works, not only can this new microfluidic system automatically perform the entire process via a new integrated micro-injector and new micropumps, but a new CRP-specific DNA aptamer with a higher affinity and specificity is also used for CRP measurement. Experimental data show that the developed system can automatically complete the entire protocol within 30 min with a detection limit of 0.0125 mg/L, which is superior to previous published results. Moreover, this study also measures CRP concentration from clinical samples to verify the performance of the developed microfluidic system. The results indicate that the measured CRP concentrations from human serums are consistent with those using a benchtop system. The developed system can also detect CRP concentrations from human whole blood without any external sample pretreatment process. This microfluidic system may be promising for point-of-care applications for CRP detection in the future.     

Biochip with integrated pumps for plug-based sequential exchange of solutions

A novel method for exchanging solutions used in biochemical analyses and a device to carry out the exchange are proposed. An array of plugs formed using six injectors was transported in a microflow channel using a main pump located at one end of the main flow channel. The injectors and main pump were operated on the basis of the change in volume caused by the electrolysis of water. Bubbles were produced from working electrodes; these bubbles caused a diaphragm placed below the injectors to inflate and occlude the inlet of the solution reservoir. Increase in the number of bubbles caused the reservoir to inject the solution into the main flow channel in the form of a plug. Each plug was individually transported downstream to the sensing area by the main pump, which was operated in a similar manner to the injector. The device was used for the detection of a tumor marker, α-fetoprotein (AFP). Plugs of necessary solutions were individually transported to the sensing area with immobilized primary antibodies to allow antigen–antibody binding, cleaning, and detection. The fluorescence intensity from the antibodies showed clear dependence on the concentration of AFP. The immobilization of antibodies could also be carried out on-chip.     

Fabrication and testing of bubble powered micropumps using embedded microheater

A bubble-powered micropump which consists of a pair of nozzle-diffuser flow controller and a pumping chamber was fabricated and tested in this study. The two-parallel micro line heaters were fabricated to be embedded in the silicon dioxide layer above a silicon wafer which serves as a base plate for the micropump. A pumping chamber, a pair of nozzle-diffuser unit and microchannels including the liquid inlet and outlet port were fabricated by etching through another silicon wafer. A glass wafer having two holes of inlet and outlet ports of liquid serve as upper plate of the pump. Sequential photographs of bubble nucleation, growth and collapse were visualized by CCD camera. The liquid flow through the nozzle during the period of bubble growth and slight back flow of liquid at the collapse period can be clearly seen. The volume flow rate was found to be dependent on the duty ratio and the operation frequency. The volume flow rate decreases as the duty ratio increases in the micropump with either circular or square pumping chamber.     

Studies on the performance characteristics and improvements of the piezoelectrically-driven micro gas compressors

This study presents the main characteristics of a micro gas compressor produced by microfabrication techniques on silicon wafers. The compressor consists of a compression chamber, check valves and a silicon membrane where the piezoelectric bimorph actuator is installed. Compressor performance was investigated under various working conditions of input voltage and frequency to the actuator at several downstream back pressures. Volume stroke ratio is a critical parameter for gas compressors. However, micro actuators do not generally produce large displacement, so the volume stroke ratio of the micro compressor is expected to be significantly less than that of conventional mechanical compressors. Therefore, the possibility of using dual compression was also investigated in order to improve micro compressor performance. The performance of the micro compressor is evaluated in this study through experiments and simulation.     

新型的形状记忆合金／硅薄膜微驱动器

介绍了一种用硅微加工技术制作的ＮｉＴｉ／Ｓｉ 薄膜结构的双向微驱动器。它利用ＮｉＴｉ 形状记忆合金薄膜（ＳＭＡ） 大的相变回复应力和Ｓｉ 衬底膜的反偏置力产生有一定位移量的双向运动。对ＮｉＴｉ 薄膜进行合理的图形化后使得驱动器位移量增大,双向效应显著,响应速度提高。同时图形化后的ＮｉＴｉ 膜也是加热电阻,使驱动结构简单,所需功率减少。驱动器实际驱动面积为３ ×３ｍ ｍ２ 厚度为２０μｍ 。可产生的最大位移为５０μｍ ,最高驱动频率可达１００Ｈｚ。驱动功率可减小到２００ｍ Ｗ。经过１０００ 万次振动后,驱动膜无开裂,性能正常。它已被成功的应用于压缩型微泵,该泵最大流量达３４０μＬ／ｍｉｎ 。     

Research on osmosis of electroosmotic micropump for physiological solution北大核心CSCD

The structural and drive principle of a electroosmotic micropump was introduced in this paper, and its osmosis for different physiological solution was investigated. By modeling the humor aquosus drainage system in eyes, the pump was used to test three physiological solution. By changing the supply voltage and recording the experimental time for certain volume of solution, then the corresponding velocity of the flow can be calculated. The data was fitted to obtain the voltage-velocity curves by using Origin Proporable software. The conclusion shows that the voltage has a direct proportion with the velocity of flow. The velocity of the flow could reach to about ten microliter when the voltage is 5 V which is the maximum tolerable value in eyes of human. By analyzing the osmotic permeability of the pump within 5 V and combining the normal flow rate of aquosus drainage, the reasonable supply voltage can be designed accordingly which will be significant for making the practical aquosus drainage system and devices in the future. ©, 2014, The Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Sensors and Actuators. All right reserved.     

IPMC微泵驱动膜的设计及结构优化

利用离子聚合物人工肌肉(IPMC)固有的电致动性能,设计了圆盘形、S形、条形及扇形4种不同结构的致动膜,选择最优结构的驱动膜以驱动微泵。制备了一系列IPMC悬臂梁状致动器,利用激光位移传感器测出不同条件下致动器产生的位移。ANSYS软件下,利用位移推导出IPMC单元体的弯矩,以此计算衡量微泵的体积变化和最大工作压力。同时,分析了泵膜形状、半径、厚度、驱动电压对泵体积变化和工作压力的影响。结果表明:较之于其它3种泵膜,扇形泵膜的体积变化量最大;泵膜半径的增加有利于增大体积变化量;泵膜厚度的增加有利于增加工作压力;适当地增加驱动电压,可同时提高其工作压力和体积变化量。