Light-actuated high pressure-resisting microvalve for on-chip flow control based on thermo-responsive nanostructured polymer

Chen, Guofang; Švec, František; Knapp, Daniel R.

doi:10.1039/b803293a

Cited by 85 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In particular, valves made using photo-responsive gels are of great interest as functional materials within micro-fluidic systems since actuation can be controlled by simple light irradiation, without physical contact, offering improvements in versatility during manifold fabrication, and control of actuation [9,[14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionogel-based light-actuated valves for controlling liquid flow in micro-fluidic manifolds

et al. 2010

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We present the fabrication, characterisation and performance of four novel ionic liquid polymer gels (ionogels) as photo-actuated valves incorporated into microfluidic manifolds. The ionogels incorporate benzospiropyran units and phosphonium based ionic liquids. Each ionogel is photo-polymerised in-situ in the channels of a poly(methyl methacrylate) micro-fluidic device, generating a manifold incorporating four different micro-valves. The valves are actuated by simply applying localised white light irradiation, meaning that no physical contact between the actuation impulse (light) and the valve structure is required. Through variation of the composition of the ionogels, each of the micro-valves can be tuned to open at different times under similar illumination conditions. Therefore, flows through the manifold can be independently controlled by a single light source. At present, the contraction process to open the channel is relatively rapid (seconds) while the recovery (expansion) process to re-close the channel is relatively slow (minutes), meaning that the valve, in its current form, is better suited for single-actuation events.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionogel-based light-actuated valves for controlling liquid flow in micro-fluidic manifolds

et al. 2010

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“…Potential replacement technologies include electrostatic [10], magnetic [11], torque generated [12], Braille pin [13], thermal [14,15] and shape memory alloy (SMA) [3] actuation.…”

Section: Component-level Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, phase change microvalves using ohmic resistors as heat sources have response times of minutes [14]. Replacing the phase change element with a thermo responsive polymer (poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)) and reducing the thermal mass of the responsive element (100 mm valve scale) decreased the response time to seconds [15]. Favorably, the pressure resistance of microvalves in COC was very high (1350 psi), and could be optimized by modifying the crosslinker and tetrahydrofuran composition; unfortunately, the quartz halogen lamp used for heating has a large area (diameter = 1.3 cm), which severely limits the scalability.…”

Section: Component-level Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent developments in microfluidic large scale integration

Araci

Brisk

2014

Current Opinion in Biotechnology

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In 2002, Thorsen et al. integrated thousands of micromechanical valves on a single microfluidic chip and demonstrated that the control of the fluidic networks can be simplified through multiplexors [1]. This enabled realization of highly parallel and automated fluidic processes with substantial sample economy advantage. Moreover, the fabrication of these devices by multilayer soft lithography was easy and reliable hence contributed to the power of the technology; microfluidic large scale integration (mLSI). Since then, mLSI has found use in wide variety of applications in biology and chemistry. In the meantime, efforts to improve the technology have been ongoing. These efforts mostly focus on; novel materials, components, micromechanical valve actuation methods, and chip architectures for mLSI. In this review, these technological advances are discussed and, recent examples of the mLSI applications are summarized. Recent advancements in microfluidic technologies have created new opportunities in the fields of biology and chemistry through miniaturization and automation of common processes, including mixing, metering, trapping, reaction, filtering, and separation, among others. Microfluidic large scale integration (mLSI) enables the fabrication of microfluidic chips containing hundreds or more of these functions using well-established lithography techniques, similar in principle to electronic LSI in the semiconductor industry [1]. Small feature dimensions, abundant spatial parallelism, and control over fluid flow provide mLSI technology with advantages such as high throughput, precise metering, automation and low reagent consumption. The implications of mLSI technology can especially be seen in recent advances in single cell, genomic, and protein analysis.

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“…18). In order to exploit the advantages of stimulation by light, infrared radiation sources and temperature-sensitive hydrogels have been used to fabricate high-pressure-resistant microvalves based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) [118]. In their work, the authors found that the pressure tolerance of the gel can be tuned by choosing suitable amounts of monomer and crosslinker for the polymer monolith inside the microchannel.…”

Section: Photosensitive Phsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulus-active polymer actuators for next-generation microfluidic devices

Hilber

2016

Appl. Phys. A

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Microfluidic devices have not yet evolved into commercial off-the-shelf products. Although highly integrated microfluidic structures, also known as lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and micrototal-analysis-system (lTAS) devices, have consistently been predicted to revolutionize biomedical assays and chemical synthesis, they have not entered the market as expected. Studies have identified a lack of standardization and integration as the main obstacles to commercial breakthrough. Soft microfluidics, the utilization of a broad spectrum of soft materials (i.e., polymers) for realization of microfluidic components, will make a significant contribution to the proclaimed growth of the LOC market. Recent advances in polymer science developing novel stimulus-active soft-matter materials may further increase the popularity and spreading of soft microfluidics. Stimulus-active polymers and composite materials change shape or exert mechanical force on surrounding fluids in response to electric, magnetic, light, thermal, or water/solvent stimuli. Specifically devised actuators based on these materials may have the potential to facilitate integration significantly and hence increase the operational advantage for the end-user while retaining costeffectiveness and ease of fabrication. This review gives an overview of available actuation concepts that are based on functional polymers and points out promising concepts and trends that may have the potential to promote the commercial success of microfluidics.

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Light-actuated high pressure-resisting microvalve for on-chip flow control based on thermo-responsive nanostructured polymer

Cited by 85 publications

References 55 publications

Ionogel-based light-actuated valves for controlling liquid flow in micro-fluidic manifolds

Ionogel-based light-actuated valves for controlling liquid flow in micro-fluidic manifolds

Recent developments in microfluidic large scale integration

Stimulus-active polymer actuators for next-generation microfluidic devices

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