In this paper, we present a low-cost, PDMS-membrane micropump with two one-way ball check-valves for lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic applications. The micropump consists of two functional PDMS layers, one holding the ball check-valves and an actuating chamber, and the other covering the chamber and holding a miniature permanent magnet on top for actuation. An additional PDMS layer is used to cover the top magnet, and thereby encapsulate the entire device. A simple approach was used to assemble a high-performance ball check-valve using a micropipette and heat shrink tubing. The micropump can be driven by an external magnetic force provided by another permanent magnet or an integrated coil. In the first driving scheme, a small do motor (6 mm in diameter and 15 mm in length) with a neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet embedded in its shaft was used to actuate the membrane-mounted magnet. This driving method yielded a large pumping rate with very low power consumption. A maximum pumping rate of 774 μ L min(-1) for deionized water was achieved at the input power of 13 mW, the highest pumping rate reported in the literature for micropumps at such power consumptions. Alternatively, we actuated the micropump with a 10-turn planar coil fabricated on a PC board. This method resulted in a higher pumping rate of 1 mL min(-1) for deionized water. Although more integratable and compact, the planar microcoil driving technique has a much higher power consumption.
展开▼
机译：在本文中，我们介绍了一种低成本的PDMS膜微型泵，带有两个单向球型止回阀，适用于芯片实验室和微流体应用。微型泵由两层功能性PDMS组成，一层保持球形止回阀和一个致动室，另一层覆盖该室并在顶部保持微型永磁体以致动。附加的PDMS层用于覆盖顶部磁体，从而封装整个设备。一种简单的方法是使用微量移液器和热缩管组装高性能的球型止回阀。微型泵可以由另一个永磁体或集成线圈提供的外部磁力驱动。在第一种驱动方案中，使用一个小马达（直径6毫米，长15毫米），其轴中嵌入了钕铁硼永磁体，以驱动膜片式磁体。这种驱动方法以非常低的功耗产生了大的抽速。在13 mW的输入功率下，去离子水的最大泵浦率达到774μL min（-1），这是文献中在这种功耗下微型泵的最高泵浦率。或者，我们用在PC板上制造的10匝平面线圈驱动微型泵。此方法导致去离子水的抽气速率更高，为1 mL min（-1）。平面微线圈驱动技术虽然集成度更高，结构更紧凑，但功耗却高得多。
展开▼
