Sacrificial-Layer Technique Fabrication and Characterization of Membrane Pneumatic Actuators for Flow Control in Microfluidics

Sacrificial-Layer Technique Fabrication and Characterization of Membrane Pneumatic Actuators for Flow Control in Microfluidics – Reproducibility Assessment

Siwapol Charykaew, Gridsada Phanomchoeng, Werayut Srituravanich, Thammawit Suwannaphan, Alongkorn Pimpin

Abstract

Ensuring the fabrication reproducibility of pneumatic actuators for a flow control in microfluidics is essential for their practical application. The actuator consists of a two-layered structure, including a control layer and a thin membrane. This study introduces a novel fabrication method that achieves uniform Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane thickness and simplifies production using a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sacrificial layer and corona discharge bonding. Actuators with membrane diameters of 1,500, 2,000, and 2,500 µm were successfully fabricated and analyzed. Experimental results indicate that membrane deflection increases with both applied pressure and membrane size. In this work, displacement variability was assessed to evaluate reproducibility. The investigation revealed consistent performance for actuators with membranes larger than 2,000 µm, while smaller membranes exhibited greater deviation, suggesting the need for further process optimization. Overall, the fabricated microactuators demonstrate strong potential for reliable flow control in microfluidic systems.

Keywords

References

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DOI: 10.14416/j.asep.2025.11.004

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