A flexible evaporation micropump with precision flow rate control for micro-fluidic systems

Abstract

This paper proposes an active-evaporation micropump for micro-fluidic system. The flexible micropump featured power, cost and space efficient structure, capable of stable and adjustable flow-rate control during long working periods. Both passive and active evaporation pumping modes have been studied. Without using external power, passive mode allows the pump to work under well-controlled temperature and humidity (e.g. in incubator). Active evaporation pumping allows the pump to work under ambient which makes this design less sensitive to temperature and relative humidity fluctuation. This paper also presents a novel method for the flexible micropump fabrication.