Development of dielectric coated alternating current electrothermal micropumps for biomicrofluidic applications

摘要

Microfluidic systems are growing increasingly prevalent as the future for modern medicine. With the transition to miniaturized systems, comes a growing need for equally miniaturized fluid delivery and control mechanisms. Electrokinetic pumping systems are uniquely suited to this task due to low power requirements and ease of scalability. Electrothermal micropumps in particular are efficient at manipulating high conductivity fluids, such as biofluids. This work describes methods by which electrothermal pumps are effectively simulated, fabricated, and tested with unique improvements designed to improve efficiency and adoptability in microfluidic systems.