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. 2023 Apr 15;14(4):860.
doi: 10.3390/mi14040860.

A Bi-Directional Acoustic Micropump Driven by Oscillating Sharp-Edge Structures

Bendong Liu  1 , Meimei Qiao  1 , Shaohua Zhang  1 , Jiahui Yang  2
Affiliations

A Bi-Directional Acoustic Micropump Driven by Oscillating Sharp-Edge Structures

Bendong Liu et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

This paper proposes a bi-directional acoustic micropump driven by two groups of oscillating sharp-edge structures: one group of sharp-edge structures with inclined angles of 60° and a width of 40 μm, and another group with inclined angles of 45° and a width of 25 μm. One of the groups of sharp-edge structures will vibrate under the excitation of the acoustic wave generated with a piezoelectric transducer at its corresponding resonant frequency. When one group of sharp-edge structures vibrates, the microfluid flows from left to right. When the other group of sharp-edge structures vibrates, the microfluid flows in the opposite direction. Some gaps are designed between the sharp-edge structures and the upper surface and the bottom surface of the microchannels, which can reduce the damping between the sharp-edge structures and the microchannels. Actuated with an acoustic wave of a different frequency, the microfluid in the microchannel can be driven bidirectionally by the inclined sharp-edge structures. The experiments show that the acoustic micropump, driven by oscillating sharp-edge structures, can produce a stable flow rate of up to 125 μm/s from left to right, when the transducer was activated at 20.0 kHz. When the transducer was activated at 12.8 kHz, the acoustic micropump can produce a stable flow rate of up to 85 μm/s from right to left. This bi-directional acoustic micropump, driven by oscillating sharp-edge structures, is easy to operate and shows great potential in various applications.

Keywords: acoustic wave; bi-directional pump; micropump; sharp-edge structure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure diagram of acoustic micropump: (a) Overview of acoustic micropump; (b) Exploded view of acoustic micropump.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic of PDMS channel and glass groove: (a) Dimensions of the PDMS channel; (b) Dimensions of the glass groove.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic of PDMS sharp-edge structure layer and working mechanism of acoustic micropump.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The fabrication scheme of PDMS sharp-edge structure layer (the last image is a top view, and the other images are side views).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Photograph of the acoustic micropump.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic diagram of experimental test system.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The microscopy images of acoustic streaming around sharp-edge structures: (a) Acoustic streaming around sharp-edge structures with an inclined angle of 60° at 20.0 kHz; (b) Acoustic streaming around sharp-edge structures with an inclined angle of 45° at 12.8 kHz.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Images showing the pumping behavior at 20.0 kHz by indicating the movement of polystyrene beads in acoustic micropump at different time frames when (a) t = 0 s, (b) t = 1 s, (c) t = 2 s, (d) t = 3 s.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Images showing the pumping behavior at 12.8 kHz by indicating the movement of polystyrene beads in acoustic micropump at different time frames when (a) t = 0 s, (b) t = 2 s, (c) t = 4 s, (d) t = 6 s.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Pumping flow rates with various voltages applied to the piezoelectric transducer activated at 20.0 kHz.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Pumping flow rates with various voltages applied to the piezoelectric transducer activated at 12.8 kHz.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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