Pressurization method for controllable impulsion of liquids in microfluidic platforms
In this paper, a pressurization method for manufacturing an independent impulsion system is proposed. The method consists in inserting a deformable material filling a microchamber, leading to its pressurization, which will be on charge of the movement of fluid. The reached pressure involves a wide range of positive values which match well for its application in microfluidic systems, such as Lab on a Chip. It has to be highlighted that the portability of microfluidic platforms is improved due to the fact that the use of external pumps to impulse the fluids can be avoided. So, the paper is focused on the displacement of fluid from one part of the microfluidic circuit to another, with the minimum error, in steady state. The control on the impulsion of liquids only depends on the volume of material which has been inserted. This method is intended to be used with an actuation system, in order to perform the impulsion of fluids in a controllable manner. The permeability of the system has been also studied. The experiments have shown good impermeability during 1h, time enough to perform the subsequent activation after pressurization. A microfluidic circuit, including the pressurized system, has been implemented for testing and as an example of a certain application. Display Omitted We propose a novel impulsion system based on PCB and SU-8.The system is intended to be integrated on microfluidic platforms.We design, fabricate and integrate the impulsion system in the circuit.The experimental results show good agreement with the theory.