Issue 11, 2009

An air-bubble-actuated micropump for on-chip blood transportation

Abstract

A novel electrolysis-based micropump using air bubbles to achieve indirect actuation is proposed and demonstrated. Compared with other electrochemical micropumps, our micropump can drive microfluids without inducing the pH value variation in the main channel and the choking/sticking phenomena of electrolytic bubbles. It is promising for biomedical applications, especially for blood transportation. Our proposed on-chip electrolysis-bubble actuator with the features of room temperature operation, low driving voltage, low power consumption and large actuation force not only can minimize the possibility of cell-damage but also may enable portable and implantable lab-on-a-chip microsystems. Utilizing our proposed hydrophobic trapeziform pattern located at the junction of the T-shaped microchannel, the micropump makes the pumped fluid in the main channel be isolated from the electrolytic bubbles. It can be used for a variety of applications without the constraints on the pumped liquid. Experimental results show that the liquid displacement and the pumping rate could be easily and accurately controlled via the signal of a two-phase peristaltic sequence and the periodic generation of electrolytic bubbles. With an applied voltage of 2.5 V, the maximum pumping rate for DI water and whole blood were 121 nl min−1 and 88 nl min−1, respectively, with a channel cross section of 100 × 50 µm. Maximum back-pressure of 16 kPa and 11 kPa for DI water and whole blood, respectively, were achieved in our present prototype chips.

Graphical abstract: An air-bubble-actuated micropump for on-chip blood transportation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Jan 2009
Accepted
26 Mar 2009
First published
06 Apr 2009

Lab Chip, 2009,9, 1524-1533

An air-bubble-actuated micropump for on-chip blood transportation

S. Chiu and C. Liu, Lab Chip, 2009, 9, 1524 DOI: 10.1039/B900139E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements