Fabrication and testing of a magnetically actuated micropump

A micropump has been fabricated in a modular fashion using silicone elastomers, which are cheap, tough, durable and inert. For modular assembly, molded bodies capture a thin valve membrane, and a diaphragm is glued on top. After attaching a novel, magnetically oriented permanent magnet composite membrane, as well as inlet and outlet tubes, the pump is activated by an electromagnet. Under a differential water head, the valve opened at ∼600 Pa. A pump 15 mm in diameter, 20 mm long, weighing 10 g, had a maximum pump rate for air of 260 μl/min at 1.9 W.