Fast and reliable droplet transport on single-plate electrowetting on dielectrics using nonfloating switching method.
In a droplet transport based on electrowetting on dielectrics, the parallel-plate configuration is more popular than the single-plate one because the droplet transport becomes increasingly difficult without cover plate. In spite of the improved transport performance, the parallel-plate configuration often limits the access to the peripheral components, requesting the removal of the cover plate, the single-plate configuration. We investigated the fundamental features of droplet transport for the single-plate configuration. We compared the performance of several switching methods with respect to maximum speed of successive transport without failure and suggested nonfloating switching method which is inherently free from the charge-residue problem and exerts greater force on a droplet than conventional switching methods. A simple theory is provided to understand the different results for the switching methods.
Park
Jun Kwon
JK
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, San 31, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, South Korea.
Lee
Seung Jun
SJ
Kang
Kwan Hyoung
KH