title: Design and fabrication of piezoelectric microactuators based on β-poly (vinylidene fluoride) films for microfluidic applications.
abstract: This paper reports a fabrication method for producing piezoelectric poly (vinylidene fluoride) films in their electroactive β-phase that features controlled thickness, smooth and flat surface, and high transparency. These piezoelectric films are suitable for being used as integrated microactuators, such as piezoelectric pumps and/or mixers, in microfluidic applications. Their actuation circuit design is also reported. ATR-FTIR, UV-VIS transmittance spectroscopy and SEM techniques were used for calculating the β-phase content, for determining the transparency and for evaluating the morphology of the produced β-PVDF films, respectively. β-PVDF films with a thickness of about 25 µm were deposited by spin-coating. It was concluded that the processing parameter that mostly affect the films quality was their drying temperature. Indeed, the drying temperature of 30 °C proved to be the most suitable for obtaining non-porous and transparent films, with a β-phase content of approximately 75%.
authors.affiliation: University of Minho, Algoritmi Research Center, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal. vanessa@dei.uminho.pt
authors.forename: V F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lanceros-Mendez
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minas
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011145:Polyvinyls; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011145:Polyvinyls; C024865:polyvinylidene fluoride; D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers