Capillary pumping independent of the liquid surface energy and viscosity.

ABSTRACT: Capillary pumping is an attractive means of liquid actuation because it is a passive mechanism, i.e., it does not rely on an external energy supply during operation. The capillary flow rate generally depends on the liquid sample viscosity and surface energy. This poses a problem for capillary-driven systems that rely on a predictable flow rate and for which the sample viscosity or surface energy are not precisely known. Here, we introduce the capillary pumping of sample liquids with a flow rate that is constant in time and independent of the sample viscosity and sample surface energy. These features are enabled by a design in which a well-characterized pump liquid is capillarily imbibed into the downstream section of the pump and thereby pulls the unknown sample liquid into the upstream pu

SUBMITTER: Guo W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6220164 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature