Miniaturized Geometry-Controlled Sharp-Edge Acoustofluidic Pumps for Nanoliter Flow Control and Microfluidic Bioassays

Document Type

Presentation

Date of Original Version

3-27-2026

Abstract

Precise fluid manipulation at the nanoliter scale is essential for emerging microfluidic bioassays, yet conventional pumping approaches often introduce significant dead volume and require bulky external equipment. Sharp-edge acoustofluidic pumps provide a compact and bubble-free alternative, but their implementation has largely been limited to structures larger than 100 µm due to fabrication constraints. In this study, we present miniaturized geometry-controlled sharp-edge acoustofluidic pumps fabricated using two-photon polymerization, enabling three-dimensional wedge-like microstructures with characteristic dimensions below 30 µm. The key geometric parameters, including sharp-edge spacing, edge length, initial edge distance, orientation angle, and tip angle have been studied. The results reveal that pumping behavior in the miniaturized regime is governed by a balance between localized acoustic streaming, viscous damping, and hydrodynamic coupling between adjacent edges. The optimal configurations is observed with 20 µm edge length, 30 µm spacing, 25 µm initial distance, 60° orientation angle, and 20° tip angle produced stable nanoliter-scale flow rates up to 20-25 nL min⁻¹ at a driving voltage of 6 V with a frequency of 60 kHz. To explore potential biological applications, the optimized pump design was integrated into a microfluidic platform for single-cell trapping experiments, enabling controlled chemical exposure within nanoliter microenvironments. The experimental setup allows investigation of how acoustically driven flow influences chemical transport and cellular microenvironments in single-cell assays.

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