Design and testing of a digital microfluidics system

V pričujočem diplomskem delu sta predstavljena izdelava in testiranje sistema digitalne mikrofluidike. Mikrofluidika je področje, ki zajema transportne pojave majhnih volumnov tekočin z uporabo majhnih kanalov. Obravnavamo manipulacijo kapljice s pomočjo spreminjanja njene površinske napetosti, kar imenujemo električno omočenje površine na dielektriku, ki temelji na spreminjanju električnega potenciala. Opisani pojav se uporablja v farmacevtski industriji, predvsem zaradi možnosti manipuliranja majhnih volumnov različnih tekočin ter avtomatizacije procesov mešanja in doziranja tekičin na mikroravni. Hkrati se lahko izkorišča za transport toplote pri ohlajanju večjega števila lokalnih toplotnih virov na neki površini, denimo računalniškem procesorju. V delu so opisane osnove delovanja principa omočenja površine na dielektriku, postopek izdelave in podani rezultati testiranja sistema digitalne mikrofluidike.In final thesis design and testing of a digital microfluidics system is presented. Microfluidics is an area that covers transport of small volumes of liquids using small channels. In this thesis we cover manipulation of a droplet by changing its surface tension. This technique is called electrowetting on dielectric that is based on changing the electrical potencial. The applicability of this phenomenon is noticeable in pharmaceautical industry, mainly due to its capability to manipulate small volumes of various liquids and ability to automate mixing and dosing processes at the micro-level. The phenomenon can be also used for heat transfer such as cooling large number of local heat sources on the surface such as computer processor. This thesis covers basic concepts of electrowetting on dielectric. The following describes process of designing and testing results of a digital microfluidics system