Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Continuous Flow Micropump System

Abstract

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a continuous flow micropump system. The system comprises two single pneumatic micropumps connected in parallel and a fluidic capacitor. It has been made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Each of the pneumatic pumps features a pump chamber, a flexible membrane, and an air chamber. The fluidic capacitor equals a single micropump without air chamber. A maximum flow rate of 496 μL/min is obtained. The influence of the fluidic capacitor is investigated at frequencies of 1 Hz and 3 Hz. The flow rate is considerably smoothened with a smoothing factor of about 0.6.