Abstract

Electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is a fast, well-established actuation method for avariety of applications, from microfluidics to electrowetting displays to electrowetting lenses. Wetherefore seek to develop a robust, scalable fabrication method for the realization of EWOD on aflexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate in order to increase the range of possible applications.We fabricated a 5×5 array of individually controlled electrowetting cells to manipulate silicone oildroplets via EWOD. The fabrication process utilized exclusively flexible materials to improve therobustness of the overall device, and processing methods were adapted to accommodate the particularchallenges posed by flexible materials. Simulation of the EWOD devices was conducted using ANSYSFluent and showed the change in contact angle in response to voltage applied. Fabricated deviceswere also tested, with actuation of the oil droplet observed with up to 100 V (RMS) AC applied acrossunderlying electrodes. We demonstrated fabrication of a fully flexible array and verified actuation tocenter droplets over the electrodes. This work may be expanded to address more specific flexibleapplications for EWOD.

 

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