An Electrohydrodynamic Micropump for On-Chip Fluid Pumping on a Flexible Parylene Substrate

Abstract

The authors present the first design, fabrication and testing results from an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) micropump on a flexible Parylene-C substrate. Parylene-C membranes with their excellent properties are rarely used yet are very promising candidates as flexible substrates. Low power on-chip micropumps are needed in various fields including biotechnology and cryogenic cooling. Furthermore, being fabricated on a flexible Parylene substrate, they can be utilized in commercial applications including wearable textiles. Pumping pressures of up to 490Pa (@30 Volts) with a flow velocity of 190mm/min (@20 Volts) is measured using isopropanol (IPA) fluid. The micropump has no moving parts and occupies a volume of only 5mmtimes7mmtimes80mum. This is the first instance of a low power EHD micropump fabricated on a flexible Parylene-C substrate.