Microfluidic valves made from polymerized polyethylene glycol diacrylate

作者：Rogers Chad I; Oxborrow Joseph B; Anderson Ryan R; Tsai Long Fang; Nordin Gregory P; Woolley Adam T^*

来源：Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical , 2014, 191: 438-444.

DOI：10.1016/j.snb.2013.10.008

• Membrane valve
• Non-adsorptive polymer
• Non-elastomeric polymer
• Pneumatic actuation
• Poly-PEGDA
• Valve characterization

Pneumatically actuated, non-elastomeric membrane valves fabricated from polymerized polyethylene glycol diacrylate (poly-PEGDA) have been characterized for temporal response, valve closure, and long-term durability. A similar to 100ms valve opening time and a similar to 20 ms closure time offer valve operation as fast as 8 Hz with potential for further improvement. Comparison of circular and rectangular valve geometries indicates that the surface area for membrane interaction in the valve region is important for valve performance. After initial fabrication, the fluid pressure required to open a closed circular valve is similar to 50 kPa higher than the control pressure holding the valve closed. However, after similar to 1000 actuations to reconfigure polymer chains and increase elasticity in the membrane, the fluid pressure required to open a valve becomes the same as the control pressure holding the valve closed. After these initial conditioning actuations, poly-PEGDA valves show considerable robustness with no change in effective operation after 115,000 actuations. Such valves constructed from non-adsorptive poly-PEGDA could also find use as pumps, for application in small volume assays interfaced with biosensors or impedance detection, for example.

• 出版日期2014-2