CN111036317B - Microfluidic chip and driving method thereof - Google Patents
Microfluidic chip and driving method thereof Download PDFInfo
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- CN111036317B CN111036317B CN201911368083.9A CN201911368083A CN111036317B CN 111036317 B CN111036317 B CN 111036317B CN 201911368083 A CN201911368083 A CN 201911368083A CN 111036317 B CN111036317 B CN 111036317B
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- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
- B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
- B01L3/50—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes
- B01L3/502—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes with fluid transport, e.g. in multi-compartment structures
- B01L3/5027—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes with fluid transport, e.g. in multi-compartment structures by integrated microfluidic structures, i.e. dimensions of channels and chambers are such that surface tension forces are important, e.g. lab-on-a-chip
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
- B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
- B01L3/50—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes
- B01L3/502—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes with fluid transport, e.g. in multi-compartment structures
- B01L3/5027—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes with fluid transport, e.g. in multi-compartment structures by integrated microfluidic structures, i.e. dimensions of channels and chambers are such that surface tension forces are important, e.g. lab-on-a-chip
- B01L3/50273—Containers for the purpose of retaining a material to be analysed, e.g. test tubes with fluid transport, e.g. in multi-compartment structures by integrated microfluidic structures, i.e. dimensions of channels and chambers are such that surface tension forces are important, e.g. lab-on-a-chip characterised by the means or forces applied to move the fluids
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
- B01L2400/00—Moving or stopping fluids
- B01L2400/04—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means
- B01L2400/0475—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific mechanical means and fluid pressure
- B01L2400/0481—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific mechanical means and fluid pressure squeezing of channels or chambers
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Abstract
The invention discloses a micro-fluidic chip and a driving method thereof, and relates to the technical field of micro-fluidics, wherein the micro-fluidic chip comprises an inner area and an edge area, wherein the inner area comprises a first material placing area, a reaction area, a second material placing area and a channel area; the microfluidic chip further comprises a first substrate, a second substrate and a channel area, wherein the channel area comprises a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric material block and a channel which are arranged along one side of the first substrate facing the second substrate, the channel comprises a first branch channel and a second branch channel, a reaction area is communicated with the first material placing area and the second material placing area, any branch channel comprises an inlet end, an outlet end and a middle channel, and the piezoelectric material block is at least arranged at the inlet end and the outlet end of each branch channel. The piezoelectric material block is driven to deform through the first electrode layer to squeeze liquid to flow, so that normal flow of the liquid is guaranteed; only one electrode layer is arranged to drive the piezoelectric material block, so that the manufacturing material of the microfluidic chip is saved, and the corresponding manufacturing process is simplified.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of microfluidics, in particular to a microfluidic chip and a driving method thereof.
Background
Microfluidic (Microfluidics) technology refers to a technology that uses microchannels (tens to hundreds of microns in size) to process or manipulate tiny fluids (nanoliters to attoliters in volume). The micro-fluidic chip is a main platform for realizing the micro-fluidic technology. The micro-fluidic chip has the characteristics of parallel sample collection and treatment, high integration, high flux, high analysis speed, low power consumption, low material consumption, small pollution and the like. The micro-fluidic chip technology can be applied to the fields of biological gene engineering, disease diagnosis, drug research, cell analysis, environmental monitoring and protection, health quarantine, judicial identification and the like.
The traditional microfluidic chip is to drive the liquid in the drug area to move to the reaction area by applying a large pressure on both ends of the drug area. Since a channel for flowing liquid in the microfluidic chip is extremely fine, it is difficult to achieve good movement in a small-diameter microchannel by using liquid of external pressure, and the number of branches in the microchannel is limited by controlling the flow of liquid by the external pressure, so that it is difficult to achieve simultaneous parallel multiple tests or simultaneous multiple tests.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above, the present invention provides a micro-fluidic driving chip and a driving method thereof, so as to solve the problem in the prior art that the number of branch micro-channels in the micro-fluidic chip is limited; in addition, the mode that the piezoelectric material block is driven to deform by the single-layer electrode layer so as to extrude liquid to move is beneficial to saving of manufacturing materials of the micro-fluidic chip and simplification of the manufacturing process.
In a first aspect, the present application provides a microfluidic chip comprising an inner region and an edge region surrounding the inner region, the inner region comprising a first placement region, a reaction region, a second placement region, and a channel region; the microfluidic chip further comprises a first substrate and a second substrate arranged opposite to the first substrate, the channel area is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate, the channel area at least comprises a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric material block and a channel which are sequentially arranged along one side of the first substrate facing the second substrate, and the reaction area is respectively communicated with the first material placing area and the second material placing area through the channel;
the channel at least comprises a first branch channel of the reaction area, which is connected with the first material placing area, and a second branch channel of the reaction area, which is connected with the second material placing area, any branch channel comprises an inlet end, an outlet end and a middle channel positioned between the inlet end and the outlet end, and the piezoelectric material block is at least arranged at the inlet end and the outlet end of each branch channel.
In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for driving a microfluidic chip, including:
respectively placing liquid to be tested in the first object placing area and the second object placing area;
the external signal connecting terminal transmits an electric signal to the first electrode layer, and the electric signal drives the piezoelectric material block to deform;
and the liquid to be detected moves to the reaction area along with the deformation extrusion of the piezoelectric material block.
Compared with the prior art, the micro-fluidic chip and the driving method thereof provided by the invention at least realize the following beneficial effects:
according to the micro-fluidic chip, the piezoelectric material blocks with the deformation function are arranged on the lower side of the channel in the micro-fluidic chip, and the liquid flow is extruded through the deformation of the piezoelectric material blocks, so that the process of pressurizing the liquid is omitted, and the normal flow of the liquid is favorably ensured; the piezoelectric material blocks are at least arranged at the inlet end and the outlet end of each branch channel, so that a plurality of reaction areas can be connected between the first object placing area and the second object placing area in the microfluidic chip through the branch channels, and multiple tests can be performed simultaneously or multiple tests can be performed simultaneously; and this application piezoelectric material piece is kept away from one side correspondence of passageway and is provided with one and can order about the piezoelectric material piece and take place the first electrode layer of deformation, and this application realizes the drive to the piezoelectric material piece through only setting up a first electrode layer, is favorable to saving the preparation material of micro-fluidic chip, simplifies corresponding preparation flow.
Of course, it is not necessary for any product in which the present invention is practiced to achieve all of the above-described technical effects simultaneously.
Other features of the present invention and advantages thereof will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Fig. 1 is a top view of a microfluidic chip provided in an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the AB segment of the microfluidic chip shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is another cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip MM' shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip MM' shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is another cross-sectional view of the AB segment of the microfluidic chip shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip PP' shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a further cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in FIG. 1;
fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a driving method of a microfluidic chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description
Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that: the relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention unless specifically stated otherwise.
The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.
In all examples shown and discussed herein, any particular value should be construed as merely illustrative, and not limiting. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.
It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, further discussion thereof is not required in subsequent figures.
The traditional microfluidic chip is to drive the liquid in the drug area to move to the reaction area by applying a large pressure on both ends of the drug area. Since a channel for flowing liquid in the microfluidic chip is extremely fine, it is difficult to achieve good movement in a small-diameter microchannel by using liquid of external pressure, and the number of branches in the microchannel is limited by controlling the flow of liquid by the external pressure, so that it is difficult to achieve simultaneous parallel multiple tests or simultaneous multiple tests.
In view of the above, the present invention provides a micro-fluidic driving chip and a driving method thereof, so as to solve the problem in the prior art that the number of branch micro-channels in the micro-fluidic chip is limited; in addition, the mode that the piezoelectric material block is driven to deform by the single-layer electrode layer so as to extrude liquid to move is beneficial to saving of manufacturing materials of the micro-fluidic chip and simplification of the manufacturing process.
Fig. 1 is a top view of a microfluidic chip according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an AB segment of the microfluidic chip according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, the present invention provides a microfluidic chip 100 including an inner region 10 and an edge region 11 surrounding the inner region 10, the inner region 10 including a first material placing region 12, a reaction region 13, a second material placing region 14, and a channel region; the microfluidic chip 100 further includes a first substrate 15 and a second substrate 16 disposed opposite to the first substrate 15, a channel region is disposed between the first substrate 15 and the second substrate 16, the channel region at least includes a first electrode layer 17, a piezoelectric material block 18 and a channel 19 sequentially disposed along a side of the first substrate 15 facing the second substrate 16, and the reaction region 13 is respectively communicated with the first object placing region 12 and the second object placing region 14 through the channel 19;
the channel 19 includes at least a first branch channel 191 communicating with the reaction region 13 in the first material placing region 12 and a second branch channel 192 communicating with the second material placing region 14, each branch channel 190 includes an inlet end 21, an outlet end 22 and an intermediate channel 23 between the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22, and the piezoelectric material block 18 is disposed at least at the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22 of each branch channel 190.
Specifically, the present application provides a microfluidic chip 100 comprising an inner region 10 and an edge region 11, the inner region 10 being used for the flow and reaction of a drug, and the edge region 11 being used for the placement of various driving components; the inner region 10 at least includes a first material placing region 12, a reaction region 13, a second material placing region 14 and a channel region, the first material placing region 12 and the second material placing region 14 are used for placing a drug to be tested, a sample to be tested and the like, and the reaction region 13 is used for performing a chemical reaction between two liquid drugs in the first material placing region 12 and the second material placing region 14.
The microfluidic chip 100 further includes a first substrate 15 and a second substrate 16, the first substrate 15 and the second substrate 16 are oppositely disposed, a channel region is disposed between the first substrate 15 and the second substrate 16, the channel region is provided with a first electrode layer 17, a piezoelectric material block 18 and a channel 19 disposed along one side of the first substrate 15 facing the second substrate 16, the first electrode layer 17 is disposed in close contact with the piezoelectric material block 18, and a side of the piezoelectric material block 18 away from the first electrode layer 17 is the channel 19; when the voltage of the first electrode layer 17 changes, for example, the first electrode layer 17 is electrified, the piezoelectric material block 18 is deformed correspondingly due to the change of the voltage of the first electrode layer 17, when the piezoelectric material block 18 is deformed, a protrusion is generated in the channel 19, the protrusion of the piezoelectric material block 18 can be attached to the inner wall of the channel 19 far from the first electrode layer 17 to a certain extent, and a condition similar to blocking is formed in the channel 19.
The reaction area 13 is respectively communicated with the first material placing area 12 and the second material placing area 14 through the channels 19 at two sides of the reaction area 13, so that the liquid in the first material placing area 12 and the liquid in the second material placing area 14 can flow into the reaction area 13 through the channels 19 to carry out corresponding chemical reaction; specifically, the channel 19 in this application includes at least a first branch channel 191 in which the reaction region 13 communicates with the first material placing region 12, and a second branch channel 192 in which the reaction region 13 communicates with the second material placing region 14, and the liquid in the first material placing region 12 flows to the reaction region 13 through the first branch channel 191, and the liquid in the second material placing region 14 flows to the reaction region 13 through the second branch channel 192. Although fig. 1 shows the microfluidic chip 100 including a plurality of branch channels, the microfluidic chip may include only one first placement region 12, one second placement region 14, one first branch channel 191 and one second branch channel 192, the first placement region 12 is communicated to the same reaction region 13 through the first branch channel 191 and the second placement region 14 is communicated to the same reaction region 13 through the second branch channel 192, and such microfluidic chip 100 supports only one type of reaction of two drugs. It should be noted that the present application does not limit the number of the first and second device areas 12 and 14 in one microfluidic chip 100, nor the number of the reaction areas 13 in one device area, nor the number of the branch channels 190 connecting the reaction areas 13 with the first and second device areas 12 and 14, for example, the microfluidic chip 100 shown in fig. 1 includes one first device area 12, the second device area 14 includes one second sub-device area 141 and another second sub-device area 142, and 6 reaction areas are included between the first and second device areas 12 and 14; therefore, the microfluidic chip 100 provided by the present application can implement multiple tests simultaneously or multiple tests simultaneously, so as to improve the experiment performance of one microfluidic chip 100.
In particular, the AB segment, the BC segment, the CD segment, the DE segment, and the DF segment shown in this application can be respectively regarded as a branch channel 190, where each branch channel 190 in this application includes an inlet end 21, an outlet end 22, and a middle channel 23 located between the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22, the piezoelectric material block 18 with deformation capability is at least disposed at the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22 of each branch channel 190, the piezoelectric material is controlled to deform to press the liquid in the first material placing area 12/the second material placing area 14 to move toward the reaction area 13, and whether the piezoelectric material deforms or not can be controlled to control the conduction or not of any branch channel 190 in the microfluidic chip 100, which is beneficial to control the flow direction of the liquid in the plurality of branch channels 190 and realizes diversified microfluidic experimental control on the same chip 100. It should be noted that, the width D2 of the channel 19 in the microfluidic chip 100 is relatively small, and due to the capillary effect, a part of the liquid placed in the first device area 12/the second device area 14 enters the channel 19 through the capillary effect, and the piezoelectric material block 18 is directly disposed at the inlet end 21 of each branch channel 190 to press the liquid entering the channel 19, so that the liquid can move to the reaction region 13.
It should be noted that, since the liquid in the microfluidic chip 100 is moved by the pressing of the block of piezoelectric material 18, the width of the channel 19 in the microfluidic chip 100 provided by the present application can be designed to be smaller 5 μm to 10 μm. The driving force for driving the liquid to move in the prior art is to apply pressure on two ends of the channel, so the width of the channel cannot be set to be small, the width of the channel in the prior art is generally more than 0.5mm, and when the width of the channel is reduced, the resistance becomes large, and the driving force is not enough to enable the liquid drop to move in the micro-channel. Since the liquid drop is pushed forward by squeezing, the reduced width D2 of the channel 19 can still generate enough power to drive the liquid to move in the channel 19.
It should be noted that, in the present application, the piezoelectric material blocks 18 may generate an electric field due to mechanical deformation, or may generate mechanical deformation due to the electric field, and all the piezoelectric material blocks 18 have ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity at the same time. Ferroelectricity means that a material produces spontaneous polarization over a certain temperature range. Because the positive and negative charge centers in the ferroelectric crystal lattice are not coincident, an electric dipole moment can be generated even without an external electric field, and the spontaneous polarization can change directions under the action of the external electric field. When the temperature is higher than a certain critical value, the lattice structure of the crystal is changed, the centers of positive and negative charges are superposed, and the spontaneous polarization disappears, wherein the temperature critical value is called Curie temperature (Tc). Piezoelectricity is a property that achieves mechanical-electrical energy interconversion. If an external force is applied to the material in a certain direction to deform the material, polarization can occur in the material and charges are generated on the surface, namely the piezoelectric effect; on the contrary, when an electric field is applied to a material, the material is deformed to generate a mechanical force, which is an inverse piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric material block 18 in the application can be made of polyvinylidene fluoride-trichloroethylene P (VDF-TrFE), and can be instantly deformed or restored when electrified by utilizing the excellent piezoelectricity and sensitivity, so that extrusion force for pushing liquid to move forwards is generated in the micro-channel 19, and the liquid is convenient to move.
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in fig. 1, and referring to fig. 1 and fig. 3, optionally, a hydrophobic layer 24 is further included between the first substrate 15 and the second substrate 16, and the channel 19 is formed by removing a portion of the hydrophobic layer 24.
Specifically, the hydrophobic layer 24 is further included between the first substrate 15 and the second substrate 16 of the microfluidic chip 100 provided in the present application, and the channel 19 for communicating the reaction region 13 with the first object placing region 12 and the second object placing region 14 may be formed by removing a part of the hydrophobic layer 24, that is, the channel 19 for liquid flowing may be formed by etching or hollowing after the hydrophobic layer 24 is completely formed.
Fig. 4 is another cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in fig. 1, referring to fig. 1 and 4, optionally, the hydrophobic layer 24 is an insulating hydrophobic layer 24; the hydrophobic layer 24 in the present application can be made into an insulating hydrophobic layer 24 by an insulating material, that is, the hydrophobic layer 24 in the present application can form the channel 19 which is beneficial to the liquid flow, and can also be used as an insulating material; optionally, an insulating layer 26 is further included between the hydrophobic layer 24 and the first substrate 15. In the present application, the hydrophobic layer 24 (the film layer where the channel 19 is located) and the first substrate 15 further include an insulating layer 26, and since the hydrophobic layer 24 and the first substrate 15 include the first electrode layer 17 and the block of piezoelectric material 18 therebetween, the insulating layer 26 herein can perform a planarization function between the hydrophobic layer 24 and the first substrate 15, and can also insulate the first electrode layer 17 from the first substrate 15. In addition, because the hydrophobic layer 24 is the insulating hydrophobic layer 24, the hydrophobic layer 24 and the insulating layer 26 in the present application can be manufactured through the same process, and further, a setting space for setting the first electrode layer 17, the piezoelectric material block 18, the channel 19, and the like is formed through etching and the like, which is beneficial to simplifying the manufacturing process of the microfluidic chip 100 and improving the production efficiency of the microfluidic chip 100.
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the micro-fluidic chip MM 'shown in fig. 1, and fig. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the micro-fluidic chip MM' shown in fig. 1, please refer to fig. 1 and fig. 5 to 6, optionally, the micro-fluidic chip 100 further includes at least one external signal connection terminal 20 disposed in the edge region 11, the external signal connection terminal 20 is disposed on a side of the first electrode layer 17 away from the first substrate 15, and the external signal connection terminal 20 is electrically connected to the first electrode layer 17.
Specifically, the edge region 11 of the microfluidic chip 100 may be provided with at least one external signal connection terminal 20, the external signal connection terminal 20 provided in the embodiment of the present application is disposed on a side of the first electrode layer 17 away from the first substrate 15, and the external signal connection terminal 20 may be directly electrically connected to the first electrode layer 17 to control the power-up condition of the first electrode layer 17. That is, the first electrode layer 17 in the microfluidic chip 100 located in the inner region 10 may extend directly to the edge region 11 to be electrically connected to the external signal connection terminal 20 in the edge region 11. In the present application, the first electrode layer 17 may not extend to the edge region 11, and the external signal connection terminal 20 may be electrically connected to the first electrode layer 17 of the internal region 10 through the metal trace 27, so that the voltage applied to the first electrode layer 17 is controlled by the external signal connection terminal 20.
With reference to fig. 1 and fig. 5 to fig. 6, optionally, the edge region 11 includes a hollow-out region 28, the hollow-out region 28 penetrates through the second substrate 16, the hydrophobic layer 24 and a portion of the insulating layer 26 along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first substrate 15, and the hollow-out region 28 exposes the external signal connection terminal 20.
Specifically, the edge region 11 of any microfluidic chip 100 includes a hollow-out region 28, the hollow-out region 28 sequentially penetrates through the second substrate 16, the hydrophobic layer 24 and a part of the insulating layer 26 along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first substrate 15, and the hollow-out region 28 is used for exposing the external signal connection terminal 20, so that the external signal connection terminal 20 is not covered by the hydrophobic layer 24 and the second substrate 16, and the external signal connection terminal 20 is conveniently electrically connected with an external driving chip and the like.
Referring to fig. 1, 3-6, optionally, in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the channel 19, the width D1 of the first electrode layer 17 is greater than or equal to the width D2 of the channel 19, and the width D3 of the block 18 of piezoelectric material is greater than the width D2 of the channel 19.
Specifically, the width D1 of the first electrode layer 17 in the present application is at least equal to or greater than the width D2 of the channel 19 in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the channel 19, so that the electric field formed by the first electrode layer 17 when energized can at least cover the position of the channel 19 corresponding to the first electrode layer 17; the width D3 of the piezoelectric material block 18 in the present application is at least greater than the width D2 of the channel 19, and since the piezoelectric material block 18 is deformed under the effect of the electric field, at least a part of the volume of the piezoelectric material block 18 protrudes into the channel 19, preferably, the width of the piezoelectric material block 18 after protruding into the channel 19 is still greater than the width D2 of the channel 19, so that the situation that the piezoelectric material block 18 cannot recover the position and state before deformation after deformation in the whole channel 19 is avoided, and the use effect and the service life of the microfluidic chip 100 are favorably ensured.
Fig. 7 shows another cross-sectional view of the segment AB of the microfluidic chip shown in fig. 1, with reference to fig. 1 and 7, optionally the intermediate channel 23 comprises at least one block 18 of piezoelectric material.
Specifically, the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22 of any of the branched channels 190 provided in the present application need to be disposed outside the blocks of piezoelectric material 18, and preferably, a plurality of blocks of piezoelectric material 18 may be disposed in the intermediate channel 23 between the inlet end 21 and the outlet end 22 of any of the branched channels 190 in the present application, so that the densely disposed blocks of piezoelectric material 18 can facilitate the liquid in the channel 19 to be tightly squeezed, and the liquid in the channel 19 can be smoothly moved from the first material placing area 12/the second material placing area 14 to the reaction area 13.
Referring to fig. 2 and 7, optionally, the first electrode layer 17 includes a plurality of first sub-electrode blocks 171, and the number of the first sub-electrode blocks 171 is greater than or equal to the number of the piezoelectric material blocks 18.
Specifically, the first electrode layer 17 in this application may be composed of a plurality of first sub-electrode blocks 171, any two first sub-electrode blocks 171 are disposed in an insulating manner, at least one first sub-electrode block 171 may be disposed on a side of any one piezoelectric material block 18 away from the channel 19, and a plurality of first sub-electrode blocks 171 may also be disposed to control deformation of one piezoelectric material block 18.
Optionally, the first electrode layer 17 is a strip electrode or a planar electrode, and an orthographic projection of the strip electrode or the planar electrode on the first substrate 15 covers an orthographic projection of the channel 19 on the first substrate 15.
Specifically, in addition to the first electrode layer 17 formed by the plurality of first sub-electrode blocks 171, the first electrode layer 17 may also be configured as a strip electrode or a planar electrode, where an orthographic projection of the strip electrode or the planar electrode on the first substrate 15 needs to cover an orthographic projection of the corresponding channel 19 on the first substrate 15, that is, a width of the strip electrode or the planar electrode is greater than or equal to a width D2 of the channel 19, and a length of the strip electrode or the planar electrode corresponds to a length of the channel 19 in the extending direction, so as to avoid that no corresponding electric field is present in an area corresponding to the local channel 19 to control the deformation of the piezoelectric material block 18.
Referring to fig. 1, optionally, at least one reaction region 13 is connected between any first material placing region 12 and any second material placing region 14 through at least two branch channels 190.
Specifically, the present application does not limit the number of the first placement areas 12 and the second placement areas 14 in one microfluidic chip 100, and does not limit the number of the reaction areas 13 in one microfluidic chip 100, nor limit the number of the branch channels 190 connecting the reaction areas 13 with the first placement areas 12 and the second placement areas 14, so that when at least one reaction area 13 is connected between any one first placement area 12 and any one second placement area 14 through at least two branch channels 190, the microfluidic chip 100 provided by the present application can perform multiple tests simultaneously or multiple tests simultaneously, so as to improve the performance of the test of one microfluidic chip 100.
Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip PP' shown in fig. 1, referring to fig. 1 and 8, wherein, alternatively, any one of the first device areas 12 and any one of the second device areas 14 penetrates the second substrate 16 and the hydrophobic layer 24 along a direction perpendicular to a plane of the first substrate 15; any reaction zone 13 is positioned in the same layer as the channel 19.
Specifically, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the first substrate 15, any of the first and second device areas 12 and 14 in the present application may be formed by penetrating the second substrate 16 and the hydrophobic layer 24, facilitating the addition of liquid into the first and second device areas 12 and 14; the reaction zone 13 and the channel 19 are arranged in the same layer, and the width of the reaction zone 13 is larger than that of the channel 19 in the extending direction; and the depth of the first material placing areas 12, the second material placing areas 14 and the reaction areas 13 can also be set to be slightly larger than the depth of the channels 19 along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the first substrate 15, so as to facilitate the placement of the liquid and the reaction. It should be noted that, since the channel 19 is formed by etching or hollowing out a portion of the hydrophobic layer 24, the cross-sectional view PP' in fig. 8 is taken along the position where the channel 19, the first device region 12, the second device region 14 and the reaction region 13 are located, and thus the hydrophobic layer 24 is not shown in fig. 8, but actually manufacturing the first device region 12 and the second device region 14 needs to be formed through the second substrate 16 and the hydrophobic layer 24.
Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip NN' shown in fig. 1, please refer to fig. 1 and 9, and optionally, the microfluidic chip 100 further includes a second electrode layer 25, the second electrode layer 25 is disposed on a side of the second substrate 16 facing the hydrophobic layer 24, and an orthographic projection of the second electrode layer 25 on the first substrate 15 covers an orthographic projection of the first electrode layer 17 on the first substrate 15.
Specifically, the microfluidic chip 100 provided in the present application may further include a second electrode layer 25, the second electrode layer 25 is disposed on a side of the second substrate 16 facing the hydrophobic layer 24, and the second electrode layer 25 and the channel 19 may be disposed in an insulating manner through a part of the insulating hydrophobic layer 24, so as to prevent the second electrode layer 25 from contaminating the liquid to be measured. The second electrode layer 25 and the first electrode layer 17 are disposed opposite to each other, and an orthographic projection of the second electrode layer 25 on the first substrate 15 covers an orthographic projection of the first electrode layer 17 on the first substrate 15, that is, the second electrode layer 25 may be disposed in a block shape, a stripe shape, a planar shape, or the like. This application accessible all sets up electrode material in the upper and lower both sides of piezoelectric material block 18 and passageway 19, forms the electric field through upper and lower two-layer electrode, can further ensure that piezoelectric material block 18 receives the electric field change and produces deformation, is favorable to guaranteeing to remove through piezoelectric material block 18 extrusion liquid, is favorable to guaranteeing the reaction normal clear on the micro-fluidic chip 100 simultaneously.
Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a method for driving a microfluidic chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and referring to fig. 1, fig. 2, and fig. 10, based on the same inventive concept, the present disclosure further provides a method for driving a microfluidic chip 100, including:
102, transmitting an electric signal to the first electrode layer 17 by the external signal connecting terminal 20, wherein the electric signal drives the piezoelectric material block 18 to deform;
Specifically, the present application also provides a driving method of the microfluidic chip 100, including placing two different liquids to be subjected to a reaction experiment into the first placement area 12 and the second placement area 14 through step 101; the external signal connection terminal 20 transmits an electrical signal to the first electrode layer 17 through step 102, the corresponding block of piezoelectric material 18 is driven to deform by an electric field generated by the first electrode layer 17, and the liquid in the channel 19 is squeezed by the deformation of the block of piezoelectric material 18 to move from the first material placing area 12/the second material placing area 14 to the reaction area 13 in step 103.
Optionally, in step 103, the liquid to be measured moves toward the reaction region 13 along with the deformation and extrusion of the piezoelectric material block 18, specifically:
when the orthographic projection of the liquid to be measured on the first substrate 15 is overlapped with the orthographic projection of at least one piezoelectric material block 18 on the first substrate 15, the external signal connection terminal 20 controls the first electrode layer 17 to drive the corresponding piezoelectric material blocks 18 to sequentially and alternately deform, and the liquid to be measured in the extrusion channel 19 moves towards the reaction area 13; the deformation which alternately occurs in sequence is specifically as follows: the block of piezoelectric material 18 deforms sequentially in a direction from the inlet end 21 to the outlet end 22 and then recovers sequentially.
Specifically, in step 103, the liquid to be measured moves to the reaction region 13 along with the deformation and extrusion of the piezoelectric material block 18, specifically: when the orthographic projection of the liquid to be measured on the first substrate 15 is overlapped with the orthographic projection of at least one piezoelectric material block 18 on the first substrate 15, the external signal connection terminal 20 controls the corresponding first electrode block of the first electrode layer 17 to drive the corresponding piezoelectric material blocks 18 to sequentially and alternately deform, and the piezoelectric material blocks 18 protruding into the channel 19 extrude the liquid to be measured in the channel 19 to move towards the reaction area 13 after deformation; the deformation which alternately occurs in sequence is specifically as follows: the piezoelectric material blocks 18 corresponding to the liquid to be measured in the channel 19 are sequentially deformed and then sequentially restored in the direction from the inlet end 21 to the outlet end 22.
According to the embodiment, the microfluidic chip and the driving method thereof provided by the invention at least realize the following beneficial effects:
according to the micro-fluidic chip, the piezoelectric material blocks with the deformation function are arranged on the lower side of the channel in the micro-fluidic chip, and the liquid flow is extruded through the deformation of the piezoelectric material blocks, so that the process of pressurizing the liquid is omitted, and the normal flow of the liquid is favorably ensured; the piezoelectric material blocks are at least arranged at the inlet end and the outlet end of each branch channel, so that a plurality of reaction areas can be connected between the first object placing area and the second object placing area in the microfluidic chip through the branch channels, and multiple tests can be performed simultaneously or multiple tests can be performed simultaneously; and this application piezoelectric material piece is kept away from one side correspondence of passageway and is provided with one and can order about the piezoelectric material piece and take place the first electrode layer of deformation, and this application realizes the drive to the piezoelectric material piece through only setting up a first electrode layer, is favorable to saving the preparation material of micro-fluidic chip, simplifies corresponding preparation flow.
Although some specific embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail by way of examples, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.
Claims (13)
1. A microfluidic chip comprising an inner region and an edge region surrounding the inner region, the inner region comprising a first device region, a reaction region, a second device region, and a channel region; the microfluidic chip further comprises a first substrate and a second substrate arranged opposite to the first substrate, the channel area is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate, the channel area at least comprises a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric material block and a channel which are sequentially arranged along one side of the first substrate facing the second substrate, and the reaction area is respectively communicated with the first material placing area and the second material placing area through the channel;
the channels comprise at least a first branch channel of the reaction zone communicating with the first material placing area and a second branch channel of the reaction zone communicating with the second material placing area, each branch channel comprises an inlet end, an outlet end and a middle channel positioned between the inlet end and the outlet end, and the piezoelectric material block is arranged at least at the inlet end and the outlet end of each branch channel;
the first electrode layer comprises a plurality of first sub-electrode blocks, and the number of the first sub-electrode blocks is larger than or equal to that of the piezoelectric material blocks.
2. The microfluidic chip according to claim 1, further comprising a hydrophobic layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the channel is formed by removing a portion of the hydrophobic layer.
3. The microfluidic chip according to claim 2, wherein the hydrophobic layer is an insulating hydrophobic layer; an insulating layer is further included between the hydrophobic layer and the first substrate.
4. The microfluidic chip according to claim 3, further comprising at least one external signal connection terminal disposed on the edge region, wherein the external signal connection terminal is disposed on a side of the first electrode layer away from the first substrate, and the external signal connection terminal is electrically connected to the first electrode layer.
5. The microfluidic chip according to claim 4, wherein the edge region includes a hollow region, the hollow region penetrates the second substrate, the hydrophobic layer and a portion of the insulating layer along a direction perpendicular to a plane of the first substrate, and the hollow region exposes the external signal connection terminal.
6. The microfluidic chip according to claim 1, wherein the width of the first electrode layer is greater than or equal to the width of the channel in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the channel, and the width of the block of piezoelectric material is greater than the width of the channel.
7. The microfluidic chip according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate channel comprises at least one block of piezoelectric material.
8. The microfluidic chip according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode layer is a strip electrode or a planar electrode, and an orthogonal projection of the strip electrode or the planar electrode on the first substrate covers an orthogonal projection of the channel on the first substrate.
9. The microfluidic chip according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the reaction regions is connected between any of the first placement regions and any of the second placement regions via at least two of the branch channels.
10. The microfluidic chip according to claim 2, wherein any one of the first placement regions and any one of the second placement regions penetrate the second substrate and the hydrophobic layer in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the first substrate; any reaction zone and the channel are arranged in the same layer.
11. The microfluidic chip according to claim 2, further comprising a second electrode layer disposed on a side of the second substrate facing the hydrophobic layer, wherein an orthographic projection of the second electrode layer on the first substrate covers an orthographic projection of the first electrode layer on the first substrate.
12. A method for driving a microfluidic chip according to any one of claims 1 to 11, comprising:
respectively placing liquid to be tested in the first object placing area and the second object placing area;
the external signal connecting terminal transmits an electric signal to the first electrode layer, and the electric signal drives the piezoelectric material block to deform;
and the liquid to be detected moves to the reaction area along with the deformation extrusion of the piezoelectric material block.
13. The driving method of the microfluidic chip according to claim 12, wherein the liquid to be measured moves toward the reaction region along with the deformation and extrusion of the piezoelectric material block, and specifically comprises:
when the orthographic projection of the liquid to be detected on the first substrate is overlapped with the orthographic projection of at least one piezoelectric material block on the first substrate, the external signal connecting terminal controls the first electrode layer to drive the corresponding piezoelectric material blocks to sequentially and alternately deform, and the liquid to be detected in the channel is extruded to move towards the reaction area; the deformation which alternately occurs in sequence is specifically as follows: the piezoelectric material blocks are sequentially deformed and then sequentially restored along the direction from the inlet end to the outlet end.
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