Session T28: Focus Session: Shells, Plates, and Thin Films
8:00 AM–10:48 AM, Thursday, March 21, 2013
Room: 336
Sponsoring Unit:
GSNP
Chair: Katia Bertoldi, Harvard University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2013.MAR.T28.4
Abstract: T28.00004 : Buckling Instability of Dielectric Elastomeric Plates for Soft, Bio-Compatible Microfluidic Pumps
9:00 AM–9:12 AM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Behrouz Tavakol
(Virginia Tech)
Michael Bozlar
(Princeton University)
Guillaume Froehlicher
(Princeton University)
Christian Punckt
(Princeton University)
Howard A. Stone
(Princeton University)
Ilhan Aksay
(Princeton University)
Douglas Holmes
(Virginia Tech)
Dielectric elastomers are well-known for their superior stretchability and permittivity. A fully-clamped thin elastomer will buckle when it is compressed by applying sufficient electric potentials to its sides. When embedded within soft, silicone rubbers, these advanced materials can provide a means for a bio-compatible pumping mechanism that can be used to inject bio-fluids with desired flow rates into microfluidic devices, tissues, and organs of interest. We have incorporated a dielectric film that is sandwiched between two thin, flexible, solid electrodes into a microfluidic device and utilized a voltage-induced out-of-plane buckling instability for pumping of fluids. We experimentally quantify the voltage-induced plate buckling and measure the fluid flow rate when the structure is embedded in a microchannel. Additionally, we offer an analytical prediction that uses plate buckling theory to estimate the flow rate as a function of applied voltage.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2013.MAR.T28.4