Abstract
A passive pump consisting of integrated vertical capillaries has been developed for a microfluidic chip as an useful component with an excellent flow volume and flow rate. A fluidic chip built into a passive pump was used by connecting the bottoms of all the capillaries to a top surface consisting of a thin layer channel in the microfluidic chip where the thin layer channel depth was smaller than the capillary radius. As a result the vertical capillaries drew fluid cooperatively rather than independently, thus exerting the maximum suction efficiency at every instance. This meant that a flow rate was realized that exhibited little variation and without any external power or operation. A microfluidic chip built into this passive pump had the ability to achieve a quasi-steady rather than a rapidly decreasing flow rate, which is a universal flow characteristic in an ordinary capillary.
Highlights
Micro-pumps for micro flow devices are fundamental components and have been studied widely in the field of micro TAS and lab-on-a-chip [1]
In terms of realizing a versatile pump device, a larger flow volume is clearly needed for applications involving complex multiple chemical reactions even if the pump is used in a microfluidic chip
A computational fluidic dynamics (CFD) simulation of a multiphase flow using the volume of fluid (VOF) method was carried out with the open source CFD toolbox software, OpenFOAM
Summary
Micro-pumps for micro flow devices are fundamental components and have been studied widely in the field of micro TAS and lab-on-a-chip [1]. Realizing a constant flow rate is effective for improving the performance of micro flow devices and expanding their application fields [18]. A single capillary is limited in terms of flow volume and flow rate. In terms of realizing a versatile pump device, a larger flow volume is clearly needed for applications involving complex multiple chemical reactions even if the pump is used in a microfluidic chip. Another desired function for a passive pump is a controllable flow rate. In terms of flow rate, capillary suction in parallel exhibited a new phenomenon capable of realizing a quasi-steady flow, which we named cooperative suction
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