Van Grinsven Kari L, Ousati Ashtiani Alireza, Jiang Hongrui
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Micromachines (Basel). 2017 Nov 18;8(11):334. doi: 10.3390/mi8110334.
Electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is a fast, well-established actuation method for a variety of applications, from microfluidics to electrowetting displays to electrowetting lenses. We therefore seek to develop a robust, scalable fabrication method for the realization of EWOD on a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate in order to increase the range of possible applications. We fabricated a 5 × 5 array of individually controlled electrowetting cells to manipulate silicone oil droplets via EWOD. The fabrication process utilized exclusively flexible materials to improve the robustness of the overall device, and processing methods were adapted to accommodate the particular challenges posed by flexible materials. Simulation of the EWOD devices was conducted using ANSYS Fluent and showed the change in contact angle in response to voltage applied. Fabricated devices were also tested, with actuation of the oil droplet observed with up to 100 V (RMS) AC applied across underlying electrodes. We demonstrated fabrication of a fully flexible array and verified actuation to center droplets over the electrodes. This work may be expanded to address more specific flexible applications for EWOD.
介电电泳（EWOD）是一种快速且成熟的驱动方法，适用于从微流体到电润湿显示器再到电润湿透镜等各种应用。因此，我们寻求开发一种强大的、可扩展的制造方法，以便在柔性聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）基板上实现EWOD，从而扩大可能的应用范围。我们制造了一个5×5的单独控制的电润湿单元阵列，通过EWOD来操纵硅油滴。制造过程专门使用柔性材料来提高整个器件的坚固性，并且调整了加工方法以适应柔性材料带来的特殊挑战。使用ANSYS Fluent对EWOD器件进行了模拟，结果显示了接触角随施加电压的变化。对制造的器件也进行了测试，在底层电极上施加高达100 V（均方根值）的交流电压时观察到了油滴的驱动。我们展示了全柔性阵列的制造，并验证了将液滴驱动到电极上方中心位置的操作。这项工作可以扩展，以解决EWOD更具体的柔性应用。
