Development of Electrohydrodynamic Micropumps With Micropillar Electrodes

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) micropumps with three-dimensional 50μm × 50μm micropillar electrodes were fabricated and tested in this study. Two basic electrode configurations were investigated: (i) micropillar emitter and collector electrodes (symmetric) and (ii) micropillar emitter and planar collector electrodes (asymmetric). The micropumps were fabricated using chromium/gold planar electrodes with 3-D Nickel micro-pillars on a glass substrate that was integrated within a 100 μm high PDMS microchannel. The effect of the spanwise micropillar spacing spacing on the pump performance was determined. The pumps were tested using HFE-7100 as the working fluid for the maximum pressure generation under a no flow condition. The micropumps with the asymmetric electrode design generated a significantly higher pressure head and flow rate than the corresponding micropumps with symmetric electrode configuration for the same applied voltage, with lower power consumption. A decrease in the spanwise spacing of the micropillar electrodes increased the pump performance for the symmetric configuration, while the performance decreased for the asymmetric configuration.

Development of Electrohydrodynamic Micropumps With Micropillar Electrodes Conferences