Graja Adrianna, Gumieniak Mateusz, Dzimira Maciej, Janisz Tymon, Krakos Agnieszka
Department of Microsystems, Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Janiszewskiego 11/17, 50-372, Wroclaw, Poland.
Mikrochim Acta. 2024 Oct 2;191(11):641. doi: 10.1007/s00604-024-06726-1.
Nanosatellites of CubeSat type due to, i.a., minimized costs of space missions, as well as the potential large application area, have become a significant part of the space economy sector recently. The opportunity to apply miniaturized microsystem (MEMS) tools in satellite space missions further accelerates both the space and the MEMS markets, which in the coming years are considered to become inseparable. As a response to the aforementioned perspectives, this paper presents a microfluidic mixer system for biological research to be conducted onboard CubeSat nanosatellites. As a high complexity of the space systems is not desired due to the need for failure-free and remotely controlled operation, the principal concept of the work was to design an entirely passive micromixer, based on lab-on-chip technologies. For the first time, the microfluidic mixer that uses inertial force generated by rocket engines during launch to the orbit is proposed to provide an appropriate mixing of liquid samples. Such a solution not only saves the space occupied by standard pumping systems, but also reduces the energy requirements, ultimately minimizing the number of battery modules and the whole CubeSat size. The structures of the microfluidic mixers were fabricated entirely out of biocompatible resins using MultiJet 3D printing technology. To verify the functionality of the passive mixing system, optical detection consisting of the array of blue LEDs and phototransistors was applied successfully. The performance of the device was tested utilizing an experimental rocket, as a part of the Spaceport America Cup 2023 competition.
由于诸如太空任务成本最小化以及潜在的广阔应用领域等因素，立方星类型的纳米卫星最近已成为太空经济领域的重要组成部分。在卫星太空任务中应用小型化微系统（MEMS）工具的机会进一步加速了太空和MEMS市场的发展，在未来几年，这两个市场被认为将紧密相连。针对上述前景，本文提出了一种用于在立方星纳米卫星上进行生物研究的微流体混合器系统。由于需要无故障且可远程控制的操作，不希望太空系统具有高复杂性，因此这项工作的主要概念是基于芯片实验室技术设计一种完全被动的微混合器。首次提出了一种微流体混合器，它利用火箭发动机在发射到轨道期间产生的惯性力来实现液体样品的适当混合。这种解决方案不仅节省了标准泵系统占用的空间，还降低了能源需求，最终使电池模块数量和整个立方星尺寸最小化。微流体混合器的结构完全由生物相容性树脂使用多喷射3D打印技术制造而成。为了验证被动混合系统的功能，成功应用了由蓝色发光二极管阵列和光电晶体管组成的光学检测。该设备的性能在2023年美国太空港杯竞赛的一部分——一枚实验火箭上进行了测试。
