Microfluidics Actuators

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 4546

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Institute of Materials for Electronics and Magnetism, IMEM-CNR, Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, 43124 Parma, Italy
2. Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
Interests: microsensors; microfluidics; polymeric 3D printing; graphene; organic semiconductive sensors
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Guest Editor
1. DISAT—Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
2. Chilab—Materials and Microsystems Laboratory, DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Via Lungo Piazza d’Armi 6, Chivasso, 10034 Turin, Italy
Interests: 3D printing; bioengineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microfluidics has become very popular in the last decade, and is aiming to be the future enabling technology for biological and chemical analyses. Rapid, efficient and portable devices and systems have been developed for research and commercialized for the consumer market. Inside the microfluidic circuits, composed by micro-structured channels, liquids, reagents, and nano- and micro particles can be handled and moved to a specific destination to implement a complete protocol with volume and energy minimization. Milli-, micro- and nano-actuators are part of these complex systems. Different technologies were exploited to engineer pumps, valves and mixers and obtain fully integrated devices. Among these, micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) technology is the most important, while additive manufacturing is promising to revolutionize the world. In this Special Issue papers with a focus on recent advancement in microfluidics actuators are considered. Moreover, full papers, communications, and reviews on correlated topics that include the emerging technologies of additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing, stereolithography and rapid prototyping), novel fabrication processes, and highly innovative applications are welcome.

Dr. Simone Luigi Marasso
Dr. Valentina Bertana
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • microfluidics
  • lab on a chip
  • valves
  • pumps
  • mixers
  • MEMS
  • liquid handling
  • 3D printing
  • additive manufacturing
  • point of care platforms

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 3598 KiB  
Article
Pneumatically Actuated Thin Glass Microlens for On-Chip Multi-Magnification Observations
by Yusufu Aishan, Yaxiaer Yalikun and Yo Tanaka
Actuators 2020, 9(3), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9030073 - 23 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3535
Abstract
This paper presents a self-contained micro-optical system that is magnification-controlled by adjusting the positions of the microlens in the device via pneumatic air pressure. Unlike conventional dynamic microlenses made from a liquid or polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that change their shapes via external actuation, this [...] Read more.
This paper presents a self-contained micro-optical system that is magnification-controlled by adjusting the positions of the microlens in the device via pneumatic air pressure. Unlike conventional dynamic microlenses made from a liquid or polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that change their shapes via external actuation, this system combines a fixed-curvature glass microlens, an inflatable PDMS layer, and the external pneumatic air pressure supply as an actuator. This device showed several advantages, including stable inflation, firm structure, and light weight; it achieved a larger displacement using the glass microlens structure than has been reported before. This fixed-curvature microlens was made from 120 µm-thick flat thin glass slides, and the system magnification was manipulated by the deflection of a 100 µm-thick PDMS layer to alter the distance from the microlens to the microfluidic channel. The system magnification power was proportional to the air pressure applied to the device, and with a 2.5 mbar air pressure supply, a 2.2X magnification was achieved. This optical system is ideal for combining with high resolving power microscopy for various short working distance observation tasks, and it is especially beneficial for various chip-based analyses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics Actuators)
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