Piezoelectric peristaltic micropump with a single actuator

A high performance piezoelectric PDMS peristaltic micropump with a single actuator is presented that enables driving with less expensive and simpler single-phase controllers while maintaining all the superior properties of conventional peristaltic micropumps, such as robustness, simplicity and purity due to the absence of valves. A simple structural design is based on a centrally placed inlet port which leads directly into the center of the pumping chamber. During excitation the loosely attached glass membrane and elastomer (PDMS) deform in a controlled manner, which enables compression and expansion of the central inlet port and the outlet fluidic channel with a phase lag that is typical for operation of peristaltic pumps. For proper micropump operation, the volume of the circular pumping chamber area should be much larger than the volume around the secondary deformation extremum that appears in the area of the outlet fluidic channel. To experimentally validate the principle of operation and evaluate the repeatability of the fabrication process, four monoactuator peristaltic (MAP) micropump prototypes were fabricated and characterized. Fabricated prototypes featured high water / air flowrate performance (up to 0.24 ml min(-1)/up to 0.84 ml min(-1)), back-pressure performance (up to 360 mbar/up to 80 mbar) and suction pressure performance (down to -165 mbar/down to -140 mbar). Furthermore, bubble tolerance and self-priming capability have been proved, together with valve regime of operation that enables sealing of the fluidic path when appropriate dc voltage is applied.