Evaporation characteristics of micropores in biomimetic micropump

Author

Chong Liu ; Lei Wang ; Jingmin Li ; Meng Li ; Yajie Duan ; Tao Li ; Lu Gan

Author_Institution

Key Lab. for Micro/Nano Technol. & Syst. of Liaoning Province, Dalian Univ. of Technol., Dalian, China

Volume

9

Issue

1

fYear

2014

fDate

Jan. 2014

Firstpage

41

Lastpage

45

Abstract

A modified biomimetic micropump based on the stomatal transpiration principle is presented. The micropump is designed to have a layer of SU-8 microporous membrane and a layer of hydrophilic microporous ceramics, which reflects the natural plant stomata and mesophyll cells. The evaporation characteristics of the different stomata are analysed qualitatively by an established model. There is a positive connection between the stomata evaporation flux and the micropump flow rate. Corresponding experiments on micropump flow rate are conducted. The presented micropump has favourable assembly and reuse properties. The results indicate that the water vapour distribution in the stomata has a trend of edge effect. It also shows that the fluid flow rate in the micropump changes regularly with the stomata size and spacing.

Keywords

biomimetics; cellular biophysics; ceramics; evaporation; hydrophilicity; membranes; microfluidics; micropumps; porous materials; transpiration; SU-8 microporous membrane; assembly properties; biomimetic micropump; edge effect; evaporation charateristics; hydrophilic microporous ceramics; mesophyll cells; micropores; micropump flow rate; natural plant stomata; reuse properties; stomata evaporation flux; stomata size; stomata spacing; stomatal transpiration principle; water vapour distribution;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Micro & Nano Letters, IET

Publisher

iet

ISSN

1750-0443

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/mnl.2013.0554

Filename

6734591