For electroosmotic pumping, a large direct-current (DC) electric field (10+ V/cm) is applied across a liquid, typically an aqueous electrolyte. At these high voltages, water undergoes electrolysis to form hydrogen and oxygen, generating bubbles that can block the electrodes, cause pressure fluctuations, and lead to pump failure. The requirement to manage these gases constrains system designs. This article presents an alternative polar liquid for DC electrokinetic pumping, propylene carbonate (PC), which remains free of bubbles up to at least 10 kV/cm. This offers the opportunity to create electrokinetic devices in closed configurations, which we demonstrate with a fully sealed microfluidic hydraulic actuator. Furthermore, the electroosmotic velocity of PC is similar to that of water in PDMS microchannels. Thus, water could be substituted by PC in existing electroosmotic pumps.

After implantation of a transcatheter bioprosthetic heart valve its original circular circumference may become distorted, which can lead to changes in leaflet coaptation and leaflets that are stretched or sagging. This may lead to early structural deterioration of the valve as seen in some explanted transcatheter heart valves. Our in vitro study evaluates the effect of leaflet deformations seen in elliptical configurations on the damage patterns of the leaflets, with circular valve deformation as the control. Bovine pericardial tissue heart valves were subjected to accelerated wear testing under both circular (N = 2) and elliptical (N = 4) configurations. The elliptical configurations were created by placing the valve inside custom-made elliptical holders, which caused the leaflets to sag or stretch. The hydrodynamic performance of the valves was monitored and high resolution images were acquired to evaluate leaflet damage patterns over time. In the elliptically deformed valves, sagging leaflets experienced more damage from wear compared to stretched leaflets; the undistorted leaflets of the circular valves experienced the least leaflet damage. Free-edge thinning and tearing were the primary modes of damage in the sagging leaflets. Belly region thinning was seen in the undistorted and stretched leaflets. Leaflet and fabric tears at the commissures were seen in all valve configurations. Free-edge tearing and commissure tears were the leading cause of valve hydrodynamic incompetence. Our study shows that mechanical wear affects heart valve pericardial leaflets differently based on whether they are undistorted, stretched, or sagging in a valve configuration. Sagging leaflets are more likely to be subjected to free-edge tear than stretched or undistorted leaflets. Reducing leaflet stress at the free edge of non-circular valve configurations should be an important factor to consider in the design and/or deployment of transcatheter bioprosthetic heart valves to improve their long-term performance.

We have previously presented "nastic" actuators based on electroosmotic (EO) pumping of fluid in microchannels using high electric fields for potential application in soft robotics. In this work we address two challenges facing this technology: applying EO to meso-scale devices and the stability of the pumping fluid. The hydraulic pressure achieved by EO increases with as 1/d 2 , where d is the depth of the microchannel, but the flow rate (which determines the stroke and the speed) is proportional to nd, where n is the number of channels. Therefore to get high force and high stroke the device requires a large number of narrow channels, which is not readily achievable using standard microfabrication techniques. Furthermore, for soft robotics the structure must be soft. In this work we present a method of fabricating a three-dimensional porous elastomer to serve as the array of channels based on a sacrificial sugar scaffold. We demonstrate the concept by fabricating small pumps. The flexible devices were made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and comprise the 3D porous elastomer flanked on either side by reservoirs containing electrodes. The second issue addressed here involves the pumping fluid. Typically, water is used for EO, but water undergoes electrolysis even at low voltages. Since EO takes place at kV, these systems must be open to release the gases. We have recently reported that propylene carbonate (PC) is pumped at a comparable rate as water and is also stable for over 30 min at 8 kV. Here we show that PC is, however, degraded by moisture, so future EO systems must prevent water from reaching the PC.

A voltage-controlled hydraulic actuator is presented that employs electroosmotic fluid flow (EOF) in paper microchannels within an elastomeric structure. The microfluidic device was fabricated using a new benchtop lamination process. Flexible embedded electrodes were formed from a conductive carbon-silicone composite. The pores in the layer of paper placed between the electrodes served as the microchannels for EOF, and the pumping fluid was propylene carbonate. A sealed fluid-filled chamber was formed by film-casting silicone to lay an actuating membrane over the pumping liquid. Hydraulic force generated by EOF caused the membrane to bulge by hundreds of micrometers within fractions of a second. Potential applications of these actuators include soft robots and biomedical devices.

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