Note: A novel piezoelectrically driven pipette using centrifugal force

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel piezoelectrically driven pipette, which utilizes centrifugal force in swing motion of a vibrating tube as the driving force, to input and output liquid at first bending resonant frequency. Control circuit capable of frequency tracking is designed. Pulse volume changing with different driving voltage amplitude, driving frequency, tip size, and target reagents are studied in experiments. The output pulse volume of a prototype pipette driven by voltage of 560 V(pp) at 175.9 Hz is 43.2 μl with a variation of ±3.5%. Minimum water spots of 3 μl can be deposited in this manner. This pipette represents an alternative to standard liquid transfer techniques in chemical or biological experiments.