In this paper, we present a low-power microfluidic pump based on polypyrrole-actuator. This polymeric microfluidic pump is fabricated with polypyrrole modified poly dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane encased into a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) structure. The pumping action is induced by electro-chemically actuating the PPy-PDMS membrane while check valves at the inlet and outlet control the flow direction in the respective pump phases. This pump is self-priming. Accurate control of the output flow rate can be obtained by changing the actuation frequency. With this pump, a maximum pumping rate of 52 μL/min was achieved using an input power of 55mW operated at ?1.5 volt.
Citation:
Jung Ho Kim, King Tong Lau, Dermot Diamond, "Fabrication of Microfluidic Pump Using Conducting Polymer Actuator," sutc, pp.457-463, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Sensor Networks, Ubiquitous, and Trustworthy Computing (sutc 2008), 2008