title: Electromagnetically-actuated reciprocating pump for high-flow-rate microfluidic applications.
abstract: This study presents an electromagnetically-actuated reciprocating pump for high-flow-rate microfluidic applications. The pump comprises four major components, namely a lower glass plate containing a copper microcoil, a middle PMMA plate incorporating a PDMS diaphragm with a surface-mounted magnet, upper PMMA channel plates, and a ball-type check valve located at the channel inlet. When an AC current is passed through the microcoil, an alternating electromagnetic force is established between the coil and the magnet. The resulting bi-directional deflection of the PDMS diaphragm causes the check-valve to open and close; thereby creating a pumping effect. The experimental results show that a coil input current of 0.4 A generates an electromagnetic force of 47 mN and a diaphragm deflection of 108 μm. Given an actuating voltage of 3 V and a driving frequency of 15 Hz, the flow rate is found to be 13.2 mL/min under zero head pressure conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan. mtke@ntut.edu.tw
authors.forename: Ming-Tsun
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Jian-Hao
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Chia-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry; D007260:Infusion Pumps; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D055616:Microtechnology; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D011312:Pressure
chemical_list: D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate