Photodeformable CLCP material: study on photo-activated microvalve applications

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2011-03, Vol.102 (3), p.667-672
• Main Authors: Chen, Maolin, Huang, Haitao, Zhu, Yutian, Liu, Zhao, Xing, Xing, Cheng, Futao, Yu, Yanlei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actuators; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crosslinking; Drugs; Exact sciences and technology; Flow rate; Irradiation; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials science; Microfluidics; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; Other materials; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Resists; Specific materials; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films
• ISSN: 0947-8396; 1432-0630
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-010-6103-4

A kind of photodeformable polymer material, crosslinked liquid-crystalline polymer (CLCP) incorporated with azobenzene moieties, is studied as microvalve membrane actuator for microfluidic system applications. In the photomechanical analysis, the photo-induced bending effect of such polymer film is equivalent to a moment T m and an axial force N m applied on it, which are related to irradiation time and intensity of the driving UV light. A linear elastic beam model is established to calculate the maximal force that the valve actuator can resist and to analyze the deformation at any irradiation time in FEA. An experimental setup is built to record the flow rate in one operate cycle under various irradiation or preload conditions. The open time can reach 8 s and the close time 6 s. The results show that CLCP films have great potential in microvalve applications in biological engineering, drug delivering, etc. It has advantages of wireless, remote control and green energy.