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.
Highlights
Micropumps are one of the essential components in microfluidics systems [1]
AAccccoorrddiinnggttooRReeff. [22], measured velocity can be calculated by following equation: uumeaure == uueof ++ uueph ++ uupressure uueph ==MMeph ×× EE
The results show a linear trend between the flow rate and voltage
Summary
The applications of micropumps include biological analysis [2,3,4], drug delivery [5], and micro-mixers [6]. Electroosmotic flow (EOF) pumps have drawn much attention in recent years They have the ability to generate constant flows, precisely control of flow rate, and can be integrated into lab-on-a-chip system because they have no moving parts [7]. They could offer a great solution to liquid delivery in microfluidics
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
