A surface acoustic wave micropump to pump fluids from a droplet into a closed microchannel using evaporation and capillary effects

A new method for converting a microdroplet on a piezoelectric substrate into continuous fluid flow in microchannels is presented. An interdigital transducer with 27.5 MHz center frequency is fabricated on a 1280 yx-LiNbO3 piezoelectric substrate for exciting surface acoustic wave. A PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) microchannel is mounted on the piezoelectric substrate. One end of the microchannel is connected with water absorbing paper, while the other end of the microchannel is in touch with a droplet to be converted. The surface acoustic wave is used for controlling the evaporation velocity of the fluid in the microchannel. Part of fluid in the droplet can be entered into the microchannel and transported there due to the evaporation and capillary effects. Red dye solution is used to demonstrate the conversion of the droplet and the transportation of the fluid in the microchannel. Results show that the droplet on the piezoelectric substrate can successfully be converted into continuous fluid. The flow velocity is increased with the power of the electric signal applied to the interdigital transducer. Average flow velocity is 0.0235μl/s when the power of the electric signal is 30.0dBm. The work is helpful for piezoelectric microfluidic devices for biochemical analysis.