IQ Micro Inc (fka IQMC)

[levelnever]

Article from September 2009 is shown below the accompanying translation. Helps better describe IQMC partner Osmotex's work in Switzerland, especially in relation to work being done with CSEM on micropumps and fuel cells in portable electronics. I did my best to translate, if you know German please tell me if I am way off, pretty rough at spots. Used Google Translate and my limited knowledge of German. Dr. Tormod Volden from Osmotex is also shown in a picture below.

Rough Translation:

Using electrokinesis is the trick with advanced micro-pumps

Thanks to an electrokinetic pump a micropump can have a simple design that works without moving parts and is inexpensive to manufacture using injection molding technology. These pumps are seen as being particularly useful in fuel cells for portable electronics. At the end of the 1990s the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) developed an innovative micro-pump Microtechniques. They probably did not know that their flash of inspiration one day would become such an important device. Researchers who study electrokinetic phenomenon came to see the device which has no moving parts and need very little voltage and which can produce highly scalable and low-power actuators. This research was the basis for the concept of a "mini power station", in which there would be no need for portable equipment or rechargeable batteries. The Norwegians founded the start-up Osmotex in Bergen, Norway and then looked for an experienced partner in Microfluidics, Electrokinetics and Micro-integration to achieve their idea.

Knowledge under one roof

It was not a simple search to find all the skills they were looking for under one roof. After investigating research partners in Europe and America, they settled on CSEM (Center Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique) in Alpnach. The crew there was tasked with producing, a microfabricated functional model of a first generation micro-pump. In 2004, they worked on a feasibility study which proved that the principle of electro-osmosis "The 2nd Order '(EO2) works in a microsystem. EO2 is a non-linear form of electro-osmosis. The innovation in using such a electrokinetic processes is that it creates a doubly layered charge inside the walls of the device. The movement of liquid creates a quasi-constant flow profile over the whole cross-section and can create an external electric field (Figure 3). Therefore, it is not necessary to have mechanical pumps for fluid transport. Liquids travelling through tiny channels as small as 10 microns require less voltage in the field. Even the pumping direction can be changed very quickly. "In the case of EO-2 the flow rate is disproportionately dependent on the electric field. We integrate therefore, additional polarizable elements in the channel between the electrodes, "says Dr. Helmut Knapp, head of microfluidics and liquid handling at CSEM. The microfabricated electrodes in the channel interior allow pumping of liquids with just a few volts AC or DC. "Tension in the ten-volt range is sufficient enough to maintain the same flow rates as in the electro-osmosis 1. In addition, it leaves with creating a corresponding distorted AC signal, the effect partly compensated for by electrolysis and thus the bubble is prevented. As the researchers said " Electrodes fit directly into the channel, form small, compact pump units with low power consumption.This non-linear electroosmosis also effectively pumped weakly polar liquids such as methanol or ethanol. The scientists have offered the first prototypes which achieved the pumping of clean water a flow rate of 0.7 microliter per minute at an energy of only 50 microwatts and at a Voltage of 30 volts. Due to these positive results CSEM and Osmotex together started a project supported by the Grant Agency See CTI (Box). The aim was to develop the prototype of an inexpensive, low-power micro-pump, specifically designed for operation with portable electronics.

Combining skills to create market success

Such fluidic microstructures are made of special polymers with micro-structuring methods such as injection molding manufacturing. First produced using photolithographic methods, the resulting fluidic structure exhibits had a problem. The procedure to replicate them is expensive. For the CTI-developed second generation project Pumps CSEM researchers made a new design. It includes a compact arrangement of electrodes, various membranes and the polarizable elements all thermally welded together to form a multi-material sandwich. The pumping unit can be accommodated for different casings, in which fluid and electrical connections are easy to order. By adjusting the sandwiches flow rate, power consumption and osmotic Pressure can be tailored for each application. "The latest micro-pumps have flow rates of 80 microliters per minute at 14 V and 8 milliwatts consumption and achieve a maximum pressure of 20 kPa. With that they comply with the requirements for compact fuel cells which can be used for portable electronic devices " said Helmut Knapp. Even power supply for the micro-pump was designed by the CSEM Team. "Thanks to the 20 x 20 x 7 cm large, battery-driven housing we can have multiple micro-pumps, DC or AC voltage with selectable duty cycle for operation of the micropumps. programming " With the Innovation gap closing in recent years microfluidics has enabled technologically demanding and increasingly complex lab-on-a-chip systems for chemical and medical analysis. These can be used for disease diagnosis, DNA Analysis, Proteomics, life sciences and biotech research, and drug delivery systems such as insulin injections for diabetes. With fuel cells, micro-pump applications can be used in portable devices such as mobile phones, laptops and game consoles. It is possible they can be used with Microprocessors for use in the cooling of microelectronics, or in the research market, for discovery and development of drugs. This could lead to a whole field devices with the same components, stricter quality control stricter and more precise requirements. "So far, the failure to break through commercially with these devices has to do with a lack of reliable fluidic actuators, ie Pumps, at a cost where the devices can be integrated, " says Helmut Knapp. Osmotex is serious about the Forschungsund Production site in Switzerland. They brought their headquarters in Switzerland in the summer of 2008 , and look to bring the micro-pump to market in the Spring of 2009 and then build a factory in Alpnach.

Picture 1 on Page 1:

Figure 1: The heart of the micro-pump is a compact, thermal welded sandwich linking the electrodes, membranes and polarizable elements of the pumping unit (Osmotex)

Picture 2 on page 1:

Figure 2: The micropump summarizes the pumping unit in one housing and provides a simple fluidic and electrical connections. (Osmotex)

Picture 3 on Page 2:

Figure 4: The CTI project leader, Helmut Knapp, Head of microfluidics and liquid handling on CSEM, and project leader Dr. Tormod Volden the Osmotex, with the electronic control unit. (E. Heinzelmann)

Box on page 2:

Figure 3: Principle of EO2 micropump (simplified):

Left: Flow around a cationic ion exchanger particles in the presence of an electric field. Only the protons can pass through the particles, creating a strong asymmetric electrical double layer (gray area on the left). A strong electro-osmosis of the second kind is generated on the left side of the particle and classical electro-osmosis is on the right only. These two currents can not compensate each other and form closed eddy currents.

Right: Multiple ion exchanger particles are sandwiched between two electrodes are disturbed in the closed vortex. The result is Electroosmotic fluid is transported through the module and the characteristics of the stronger electro-osmosis of the second type shows.

Box on Page 3:

The Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), the Innovation Promotion Agency from the federal government. It promotes the exchange of knowledge and
technology transfer between companies and universities. The CTI has a dudget of around 100 million francs. Companies work together with universities to generate new knowledge for products and services and bring this them to market. The CTI promotes:

• market-oriented research and development projects, which the company together with the universities develop together
• the creation and development of scientifically based companies
• the knowledge and technology

Picture 4 on Page 4:

Figure 5: The test system developed at CSEM allows up to nine micro pumps tested in parallel on their performance. (E. Heinzelmann)