Abstract
Microfluidic devices have not yet evolved into commercial off-the-shelf products. Although highly integrated microfluidic structures, also known as lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and micrototal-analysis-system (µTAS) devices, have consistently been predicted to revolutionize biomedical assays and chemical synthesis, they have not entered the market as expected. Studies have identified a lack of standardization and integration as the main obstacles to commercial breakthrough. Soft microfluidics, the utilization of a broad spectrum of soft materials (i.e., polymers) for realization of microfluidic components, will make a significant contribution to the proclaimed growth of the LOC market. Recent advances in polymer science developing novel stimulus-active soft-matter materials may further increase the popularity and spreading of soft microfluidics. Stimulus-active polymers and composite materials change shape or exert mechanical force on surrounding fluids in response to electric, magnetic, light, thermal, or water/solvent stimuli. Specifically devised actuators based on these materials may have the potential to facilitate integration significantly and hence increase the operational advantage for the end-user while retaining cost-effectiveness and ease of fabrication. This review gives an overview of available actuation concepts that are based on functional polymers and points out promising concepts and trends that may have the potential to promote the commercial success of microfluidics.
Highlights
The field of microfluidics comprises research into and development of miniaturized systems for the handling, treatment, metering, and analysis of small amounts of liquids or gases [1]
The final sections of this paper describe phase-change actuator (PCA) materials (Sect. 9), shape-memory polymers (SMPs) (Sect. 10), and electro- (ERFs) and magnetorheological fluids (MRFs)
This review of actuation concepts for microfluidics based on stimulus-active polymers has shown that this field is surprisingly multifaceted and highly interdisciplinary with strong connections to materials science and polymer technology
Summary
The field of microfluidics comprises research into and development of miniaturized systems for the handling, treatment, metering, and analysis of small amounts of liquids or gases [1]. Despite significant research activities in this highly multidisciplinary field over more than two decades, only few concepts have reached the level of commercialization Studies addressing this issue [3, 4] identified the lack of standardization and integration as the main barriers to acceptance by the end-user and to commercial breakthrough: After acquiring one of the few commercially available microfluidic products, the operator may face difficulties in connecting the microfluidic device to ancillary hardware, such as external supplies, valves, pumps and other microfluidic components [5]. Recent developments in the field of functional polymers—that is, softmatter materials which respond to an external, mainly physical, stimulus—may be essential in contributing to the foreseen commercial success of microfluidic concepts. Most of these functional polymers do not respond to a single stimulus, but rather to a set of physical stimuli. Conclusion (Sect. 12) gives an overview of the different polymerbased actuation concepts, assesses their advantages and disadvantages when used in microfluidics, and seeks to identify promising concepts and technologies for the future
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