Novel Type of Self-Priming Porous Ports for Microfluidic Applications

Abstract - This paper reports on a novel type of self-priming porous fluid ports for microfluidic devices. The capillary wicking behaviour of porous microstructures is exploited to facilitate liquid transfer into microchannels. The fluid ports are manufactured by filling pre-structured access holes in glass with micron-sized Al2O3 powder using the PowderMEMS® process. The porous ports are shown to allow reliable and reproducible transport of applied liquids into microfluidic channels. The described approach improves the robustness of fluid transport from the macroscopic world into the microfluidic domain by preventing the formation of a blocking meniscus by surface tension.