Microblower-based microfluidic pump

•Highly economical and accessible micropumping method using microblowers.•Flexibly pumping fluids into and altering flow rates inside microchannels.•High accuracy and stability, fast response, easy assembly, and low cost.•Demonstrate flexible control of laminar flow interface in a microfluidic chann...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors and actuators. A. Physical. 2017-01, Vol.253, p.27-34
Main Authors: Wang, Xinran, Jiang, Huawei, Chen, Yuncong, Qiao, Xuan, Dong, Liang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accessibility
Automation
Concentration gradient
Flow velocity
Fluid flow
Fluid manipulation
Fluids
Laminar flow
Low cost
MEMS
Microblower
Miniaturized pump
Piezoelectricity
Pumping
Pumps
Stability
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Summary:•Highly economical and accessible micropumping method using microblowers.•Flexibly pumping fluids into and altering flow rates inside microchannels.•High accuracy and stability, fast response, easy assembly, and low cost.•Demonstrate flexible control of laminar flow interface in a microfluidic channel.•Demonstrate generating droplets with controlled size and ingredient concentration. This paper reports on a highly economical and accessible microfluidic pump using a piezoelectric air microblower for the controlled pumping of small-volume fluids into microfluidic chips. The present pump exerts high-accuracy control over the driving pressure to deliver fluids into and flexibly alter their flow rate inside microfluidic channels with a fast response at the millisecond scale and high pumping pressure stability. We have demonstrated the applications of this pump to shift the fluidic interface between laminar flows across a microfluidic channel, produce microdroplets with controllable sizes and chemical ingredients, and generate a discrete concentration gradient when incorporating a microfluidic concentration generator. Owing to its easy assembly and low cost, the microfluidic pump can provide a highly accessible and inexpensive solution to pumping and manipulating liquids in microfluidic devices for many chemical and biological studies, and will be particularly suitable for applications requiring full system integration and flow rate control automation within a limited space and financial budget.
ISSN:0924-4247
1873-3069
DOI:10.1016/j.sna.2016.11.017