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Flexible fish-tail piezoelectric pump with bidirectional pumping characteristic.
Naiyue Wang1, Zhaoqiang Chen2, Junxuan Mai2
1School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering, Langfang 065000, Hebei, China.
The Review of Scientific Instruments
|October 31, 2025
Summary
This study introduces a novel fish-tail valveless piezoelectric pump capable of bidirectional liquid flow control. This innovation enhances fluid control for microfluidic applications by altering vibration modes with frequency.
Area of Science:
- Microfluidics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Dynamic valveless piezoelectric pumps offer miniaturization and no valve hysteresis.
- Current designs are limited to unidirectional liquid pumping.
- This limitation restricts their application potential in microfluidics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design a novel valveless piezoelectric pump with adjustable liquid flow direction.
- To overcome the unidirectional flow limitation of existing piezoelectric pumps.
- To enhance fluid control capabilities for microfluidic systems.
Main Methods:
- Inspired by fish tail structures, a flexible fish-tail was integrated into a piezoelectric pump.
- Altering the piezoelectric vibrator's vibration mode by adjusting excitation frequencies.
- Utilizing Doppler scanning laser vibrometry and flow field observations to analyze fluid dynamics.
Main Results:
- The flexible fish-tail pump demonstrated adjustable liquid flow direction based on excitation frequency.
- Maximum forward flow rate reached 23.68 ml/min at 105 Hz (160 V).
- Maximum reverse flow rate achieved 5.76 ml/min at 230 Hz (160 V).
Conclusions:
- The flexible fish-tail piezoelectric pump successfully enables bidirectional fluid control.
- This research offers a more flexible and efficient fluid control technology.
- Potential applications include microfluidic mixing, drug delivery, and biotechnology research.
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