A novel polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic system including thermopneumatic-actuated micropump and Paraffin-actuated microvalve

A novel microfluidic system is presented using microvalves and a micropump, which are easily integrated on the same substrate, in order to accurately control the fluid flows in a micrototal analysis system and lab-on-a-chip. The system is realized by means of a polydimethylsilxane (PDMS)-glass chip and an indium tin oxide heater. This paper presents a novel microfluidic system including a thermopneumatic-actuated micropump and Paraffin-actuated microvalve. The maximum pumping rate of approximately 1.05 μl/min is observed at the duty ratio of 7% and frequency of 2 Hz, measured at a fixed power of 500 mW. The power at flow cut-off is measured at approximately 300 mW for the microvalve of which channel width and depth are 400 and 140 μm, respectively.