title: A membrane-based, high-efficiency, microfluidic debubbler.
abstract: In many lab-on-chip applications, it is necessary to remove bubbles from the flow stream. Existing bubble removal strategies have various drawbacks such as low degassing efficiency, long degassing time, large dead volumes, sensitivity to surfactants, and the need for an external vacuum or pressure source. We report on a novel, simple, robust, passive, nozzle-type, membrane-based debubbler that can be readily incorporated into microfluidic devices for rapid degassing. The debubbler is particularly suitable to operate with microfluidic systems made with plastic. The debubbler consists of a hydrophobic, porous membrane that resembles a normally closed valve, which is forced open by the working fluid's pressure. To illustrate the operation of the debubbler, we describe its use in the context of a chip containing a bead array for immunoassays. Our debubbler was able to completely filter gas bubbles out of a segmented flow at rates up to 60 µl s(-1) mm(-2) of membrane area.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, 229 Towne Building, 220 S. 33rd St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6315, USA.
authors: Changchun
authors: C
authors: Liu
authors: Jason A
authors: JA
authors: Thompson
authors: Haim H
authors: HH
authors: Bau
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004867:Equipment Design; D005740:Gases / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007118:Immunoassay; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008863:Microspheres; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016062:Porosity; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005740:Gases; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D014867:Water