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A hybrid electrically-and-piezoelectrically driven micromixer built on paper for microfluids mixing

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Abstract

This study aims to explore the channel patterns and the characteristic parameters of the zigzag microchannel based on microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs), in which the mixing efficiency and speed can be greatly enhanced. Better mixing of the solutions was obtained by adding a simple directing electric field to the optimized structure of the zigzag microchannel on paper-based chips instead of the traditional complex devices. A higher mixing efficiency was reached when the direct-current (DC) power supply reached 20 V. Meanwhile, a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) driver was used in the mixing experiment with the paper-based zigzag microchannel. The results show that the mixing efficiency reached a maximum value when the input voltage and frequency were 30 V and 150 Hz, respectively. These paper-based devices meet the requirements of the biochemical analysis field because they are low cost, easy to operate, and have high efficiencies, giving them good prospects for future applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the undergraduate students Han WANG and Xuesen ZHANG at Henan University of Technology for assistance with experimental fabrication and characterization of devices. The authors would like to acknowledge the partial financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; Grant No. 51505128) and the Henan Key Technology Research and Development Program (Grant No. 182102410061). It was also supported by Cultivation Programme for Young Backbone Teachers in Henan University of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electromechanical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Yanfang Guan, Fengqian Xu, Baichuan Sun, Xiangxin Meng, Yansheng Liu & Mingyang Bai

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  1. Yanfang Guan
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  2. Fengqian Xu
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  3. Baichuan Sun
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  4. Xiangxin Meng
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  5. Yansheng Liu
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  6. Mingyang Bai
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Contributions

YF Guan designed the study. FQ Xu, XX Meng, YS Liu and MY Bai performed the experiments. YF Guan and BC SUN wrote the paper. YF Guan reviewed and edited the manuscript. The manuscript was written through contributions of all authors. All authors have given approval to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yanfang Guan.

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Guan, Y., Xu, F., Sun, B. et al. A hybrid electrically-and-piezoelectrically driven micromixer built on paper for microfluids mixing. Biomed Microdevices 22, 47 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-020-00502-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-020-00502-7

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