MWagih_uFluid_TripleStub_Sensor.pdf (5.5 MB)
Scalable All-Printed Microwave Microfluidic Sensor for Multi-Liquid Characterization based on a Stub-Loaded Microstrip Line
Microwave microfluidic sensors are typically designed with a channel in vicinity of a resonator's fringing electric (E)-fields, to characterize the material properties of a single fluid. This paper leverages hybrid 3D and dispenser printing to realize a scalable microfluidic sensor utilizing the parallel-plate capacitance of an open-ended microstrip stub, enabling, for the first time, a tunable sensitivity. A stub-loaded microstrip line is then proposed for characterizing multiple microfluidic samples simultaneously using a simple two-port multi-band resonator. The physical constrains which limit the scalability of the proposed sensors have been analyzed analytically and numerically, prior to implementing a three-channel triple-band sensor. The microfluidic channels have been fabricated using stereolithography 3D printing with the microstrip line directly dispenser printed on a conformable polyimide substrate. To accommodate varying channel thicknesses, a tapered microstrip line is proposed to maintain the impedance matching. The fabricated sensor is characterized using binary water-IPA mixtures to evaluate its sensitivity, comparing favorably with reported 3D-printed sensors. The proposed sensor achieves over 90% accuracy in determining the real permittivity following a simple water-based calibration across the different channels, for samples with 16 oC temperature sensitivity across all channels.
Funding
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
History
Email Address of Submitting Author
mahm1g15@ecs.soton.ac.ukORCID of Submitting Author
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7806-4333Submitting Author's Institution
University of SouthamptonSubmitting Author's Country
- United Kingdom
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Keywords
microwave microfluidic sensormicrofluidmicrofluidic sensormicrowave sensorRF microfluidic sensor3D printed microfluidics3D printed sensormicrofluidic resonatorRF sensorRFIDdielectric sensingadditive manufacturing3D printed microfluid sensorMicrofluidic characterizationPermittivity measurementsRF dielectric sensingdielectricsWater permittivity measurementsmicrowave dielectric sensing3D printed microwave sensormicrostrip sensorresonatorRF resonatorMicrowave microfluidic characterization