Electrostatically driven micropump with peristaltically moving membrane

An electrostatically driven valveless micropump with a peristaltically moving membrane for gas chromatography is presented. The one-chamber micropump has a peristaltically moving membrane formed by polyimide with four electrodes used to separate the single chamber into four pump chambers. For a peristaltically moving membrane, several dielectrics were tested for their ability to endure high-voltage breakdown, and the PI-2545 polyimide was finally chosen to reduce the operating voltage. After testing a single-sided micropump (SSM), a double-sided micropump (DSM) was fabricated to enhance pump efficiency. Theoretically, the flow rate of the DSM is quadruple that of the SSM, and the electrodes in the membrane can recover from the motion of pulling down and pulling up with ease. To verify the peristaltic motion of the micropump, a transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode was used. An ITO-ITO micropump was fabricated, and to measure flow rate, an ITO-Si micropump was fabricated as well. The micropump was fabricated on a glass substrate with ITO and on a silicon substrate with a polyimide membrane. A maximum flow rate of 27.19 μl/min was measured at 4 Hz and 100 V DC. The micropump was operated by four electrodes with a four-phase sequencing actuation.