Journal ArticleDOI
Creating, transporting, cutting, and merging liquid droplets by electrowetting-based actuation for digital microfluidic circuits
TLDR
In this paper, the authors report the completion of four fundamental fluidic operations considered essential to build digital microfluidic circuits, which can be used for lab-on-a-chip or micro total analysis system (/spl mu/TAS): 1) creating, 2) transporting, 3) cutting, and 4) merging liquid droplets, all by electrowetting.Abstract:
Reports the completion of four fundamental fluidic operations considered essential to build digital microfluidic circuits, which can be used for lab-on-a-chip or micro total analysis system (/spl mu/TAS): 1) creating, 2) transporting, 3) cutting, and 4) merging liquid droplets, all by electrowetting, i.e., controlling the wetting property of the surface through electric potential. The surface used in this report is, more specifically, an electrode covered with dielectrics, hence, called electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD). All the fluidic movement is confined between two plates, which we call parallel-plate channel, rather than through closed channels or on open surfaces. While transporting and merging droplets are easily verified, we discover that there exists a design criterion for a given set of materials beyond which the droplet simply cannot be cut by EWOD mechanism. The condition for successful cutting is theoretically analyzed by examining the channel gap, the droplet size and the degree of contact angle change by electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD). A series of experiments is run and verifies the criterion.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Electrowetting on dielectric experiments using graphene.
TL;DR: It is expected that the improved EWOD properties using graphene as an electrode material will open the door to various applications, including flexible displays and droplet manipulation in three-dimensional microfluidics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Dielectric breakdown and failure of anodic aluminum oxide films for electrowetting systems
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study electrical properties and breakdown phenomena in metal/aluminum oxide/metal and electrolyte or aluminum oxide/ metal contacts, with the aim to achieve a better understanding of failure modes and improve the performance of model electrowetting systems.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ultra-portable smartphone controlled integrated digital microfluidic system in a 3D-printed modular assembly
TL;DR: The development of an integrated ultraportable, low-cost, and modular digital microfluidic (DMF) system and its successful integration with a smartphone used as a high-level controller and post processing station are reported.
Journal ArticleDOI
Optimal Scheduling of Biochemical Analyses on Digital Microfluidic Systems
Lingzhi Luo,Srinivas Akella +1 more
TL;DR: This paper finds the lower bound of the mixing completion time based on the tree structure of input analyses, and calculates the minimum number of mixers Mlb required to achieve the higher bound.
Journal ArticleDOI
Active microdroplet merging by hydrodynamic flow control using a pneumatic actuator-assisted pillar structure
Dong Hyun Yoon,Afshan Jamshaid,J. Ito,Asahi Nakahara,Daiki Tanaka,Takashiro Akitsu,Tetsushi Sekiguchi,Shuichi Shoji +7 more
TL;DR: A microdroplet merging device that can actively control the merging of various droplets under a wide range of flow conditions, using a simple structure that operated using only hydrodynamic flow control without any surfactant is described.
References
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Book
Fundamentals of microfabrication
TL;DR: The second edition of the Fundamentals of Microfabrication as discussed by the authors provides an in-depth coverage of the science of miniaturization, its methods, and materials, from the fundamentals of lithography through bonding and packaging to quantum structures and molecular engineering.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electrowetting-based actuation of liquid droplets for microfluidic applications
TL;DR: In this article, a microactuator for rapid manipulation of discrete microdroplets is presented, which is accomplished by direct electrical control of the surface tension through two sets of opposing planar electrodes fabricated on glass.
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Micromachined Transducers Sourcebook
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of Micromachining Techniques, Mechanical Transducers, Optical Transducers and Ionizing Radiation Transducers for Microfluidic Devices.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electrowetting-based actuation of droplets for integrated microfluidics
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative approach to microfluidics based upon the micromanipulation of discrete droplets of aqueous electrolyte by electrowetting is reported.