Design and Characterization of a Gas Actuated Pump for μTAS

摘要

We present the results on the design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization of a gas-actuated micro-jet pump for integrated micro-fluidic systems. Vacuum suction mode provided by the pump can effectively decrease the formation of air bubbles and overcome the interface tension between the liquid and the solid wall in the micro-fluidic systems. Structurally the pump, which can be fabricated with only one etching step, consists of a nozzle, a diffuser, two suction tubes, a throat pipe, and a suction chamber. To optimize the parameters for the future designs, various pump configurations with different geometries were simulated through FLUENT software firstly. Then, the characteristics of the gas-actuated micro-jet pumps were studied experimentally. The pump began to work at a pressure of 2kPa, and the actuation pressure could be easily realized through a medical syringe.