Passive micropump for microfluidics based devices

Abstract

One of the essential elements of microfluidics is driving liquid flow in microchannels. Device discussed gives a way to pump liquid passively through a microchannel. The present work represents fiber and paper based passive micro-pumping of liquids through microfluidic devices. The porous structure and network of capillaries inside the paper and fiber materials support spontaneous liquid movement. Agarose gel coating is used with paper in order to achieve variations flow rates. The effect of gel concentration on liquid flow is studied. The concept can be used ubiquitously for microfluidics device application. For its low-cost and is feasible to integrate with devices for low resource settings.