Micropump Based on IPMC Actuator: Design, Simulation and Study

Micropumps with a drive based on IPMC actuator create high flow rate with small amplitude of the input power signal, which makes them relevant for solving many microfluidics problems. A significant problem is the reduction of the size of such micropumps for integration in portable devices. The paper solves the problem of reducing the overall size of the previously developed micropump. For this purpose, a physical model of the inner structure of a micropump was built and its main characteristics were calculated. Based on the simulation results, a micropump with optimized geometry was constructed: its size is $29\times 23\times 8$ mm. Maximum flow rate of the pump is $1.38\ \mu\mathrm{l}/\mathrm{s}$, and the pressure is 112 Pa.