Concept Studies of Micro-Pump for Chemical Concentration in Handheld Micro Sensors

摘要

This report summarizes the preliminary results of a short-term innovative research project on the concept study of micro pumps for chemical concentration in handheld micro sensors. The work conducted under this project is a six-month concept study. The application target of the research is to help improve the sensitivity of the chemical agent sensor using conductive polymer developed at the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland. The main objective of the work is to study the feasibility of certain micro pumping concepts and their potential integration with the sensing material and the electronics. A prototype of a mini pump is presented, which has a potential to be miniaturized. The feasibility of sample concentration by using micro pumps is demonstrated, although the quantitative assessment of the pumping system is still elusive, partly because of lack of specifications. The future research efforts to improve the micro pumps and to miniaturize them are also outline in the report.