Formation of microdroplets utilizing hybrid magnetically driven microtool on a microfluidic chip

Abstract

We proposed a polymer-metal hybrid MMT (magnetically driven microtool) which has properties of both elasticity and rigidity. A magnetic metal axle is made by electroplating, then it is mounted directly in the center of the MMT during molding. By using this process, we could fabricate a hybrid MMT whose fixed axes are elastic to move specific direction, while the center axle is rigid to prevent bending by the unwanted external force. The magnetic metal axle also has a merit to have higher magnetic property which contributes to the powerful actuation. We designed a hybrid MMT for on-demand droplet dispensing on a chip. It has a parallel plate structure to be constrained in translational motion. The displacement of the hybrid MMT was about 300 Pm which was 6 times larger than that of the conventional MMT, and on-demand droplet generation was successfully performed. We confirmed production of the 177.7±2.3 Pm droplet.