School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Media and Communication, and School of Applied Sciences , Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Mar 4;111(9):3304-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1319878111. Epub 2014 Feb 18.
Small-scale pumps will be the heartbeat of many future micro/nanoscale platforms. However, the integration of small-scale pumps is presently hampered by limited flow rate with respect to the input power, and their rather complicated fabrication processes. These issues arise as many conventional pumping effects require intricate moving elements. Here, we demonstrate a system that we call the liquid metal enabled pump, for driving a range of liquids without mechanical moving parts, upon the application of modest electric field. This pump incorporates a droplet of liquid metal, which induces liquid flow at high flow rates, yet with exceptionally low power consumption by electrowetting/deelectrowetting at the metal surface. We present theory explaining this pumping mechanism and show that the operation is fundamentally different from other existing pumps. The presented liquid metal enabled pump is both efficient and simple, and thus has the potential to fundamentally advance the field of microfluidics.
小型泵将成为许多未来微/纳米尺度平台的核心。然而，小型泵的集成目前受到输入功率下的有限流量以及其相当复杂的制造工艺的限制。这些问题的出现是因为许多传统的泵送效果需要复杂的运动元件。在这里，我们展示了一种我们称之为液态金属驱动泵的系统，该系统无需机械运动部件，在适度电场的作用下即可驱动多种液体。该泵包含一小滴液态金属，通过在金属表面进行电润湿/去电润湿，以极高的流速诱导液体流动，同时消耗的功率极低。我们提出了一种解释这种泵送机制的理论，并表明该操作与其他现有泵根本不同。所提出的液态金属驱动泵高效且简单，因此有可能从根本上推动微流控领域的发展。
