Development of a High Flow Rate 3-D Electroosmotic Flow Pump

Abstract

A low voltage 3D parallel electroosmotic flow (EOF) pump composed of two electrode layers and a fluid layer is proposed in this work. The fluid layer contains twenty parallel fluid channels and is set at the middle of the two electrode layers. The distance between fluid and electrode channels was controlled to be under 45 μm, to reduce the driving voltage. Room temperature liquid metal was directly injected into the electrode channels by syringe to form non-contact electrodes. Deionized (DI) water with fluorescent particles was used to test the pumping performance of this EOF pump. According to the experimental results, a flow rate of 5.69 nL/min was reached at a driving voltage of 2 V. The size of this pump is small, and it shows a great potential for implanted applications. This structure could be easily expanded for more parallel fluid channels and larger flow rate.

Design and Experimental Verification of a PZT Pump with Streamlined Flow Tubes

“…It can be seen that the amplitude of the center point of the vibrator was positively correlated with the voltage, and these maximum amplitudes were 0.062 mm (40 V, 10 Hz), 0.095 mm (60 V, 10 Hz), 0.136 mm (80 V, 10 Hz), 0.217 mm (100 V, 11 Hz), and 0.228 mm (120 V, 10 Hz), as shown in Figure 11. In the low frequency region (1-25Hz), firstly, the amplitude of the piezoelectric vibrator increased with the increasing frequency (1-10 Hz), then, when the amplitude increased to a certain value, the amplitude decreased with the increasing frequency (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), and was approximately zero after 25 Hz. In the high frequency region (>25 Hz), the amplitude decayed with increasing frequency and was accompanied by a few amplitude peak points.…”

“…At the same time, with the advent of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System), the inverse piezoelectric driving technology that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy has become a research hotspot in research concerning modern micromachines [7,8]. The actuator has not only decreased in size but also enhances conversion efficiency in ultrasonic motors [9], ultrasonic transducers [10], piezoelectric pumps [11], and so on. Among them, the piezoelectric pump is further divided into valve piezoelectric pumps and valveless piezoelectric pumps.…”

A Study of Dielectrophoresis-Based Liquid Metal Droplet Control Microfluidic Device

“…In these devices, LM droplets, not only gallium-based alloys, but mercury as well, are driven by a pair of electrodes to move or transform to perform as switches, pumps, or mixers [ 19 , 20 ]. In most cases, LM droplets have to be wholly wrapped with electrolyte solution, such as NaOH solution, so that the droplet could be easily electrically driven [ 29 , 30 ]. In the DEP device proposed in this work, on the other hand, no electrolyte is necessary.…”

“…Standard electrode types include solid electrodes, deposition or sputtering electrodes, liquid electrodes, and salt bridge electrodes [ 26 ]. Room temperature liquid metal, as mentioned above, is a new choice of electrode material in microfluidics [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Compared with traditional solid electrodes, liquid electrodes have the advantages of easy fabrication, softness; and compared with salt bridge liquid electrodes, liquid metal has much a higher electrical conductivity.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue on Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics, Volume III

“…Khan and Dutta[2] derived an analytical solution of time-periodic EOF through a microtube with heterogeneous distribution of zeta potential. Ye et al[3] developed a low-voltage high flow rate 3D EOF pump, which achieved a flow rate of 5.69 nL/min at a driving voltage of 2 V. Li et al[4] numerically simulated EOF and ionic mass transport in a microchannel with an ion exchange membrane (IEM), and investigated the performance of seawater desalination of the system. Newtonian fluid was considered in these studies.…”