Multi-droplet parallel actuation for pin-constrained digital microfluidic system

doi:10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2026.12.017

Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science)

2026, Vol. 60

Issue (12): 2716-2724 DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2026.12.017

Multi-droplet parallel actuation for pin-constrained digital microfluidic system

Ming CAO(

),Zuwei HUANG,Huihong LIANG,Wufeng DUAN,Sujie YUAN,Zhenmin XU,Kui ZHOU

School of Advanced Manufacturing, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China

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Abstract

A pin-limited digital microfluidic system was designed and implemented in order to address the limitation of system throughput imposed by the number of control pins in the digital microfluidic system. A modular design was adopted to decouple the control circuitry from the electrode array, enabling configurable expansion of the number of parallel channels. The similarities and differences between single-droplet actuation and parallel multi-droplet actuation were analyzed based on the fundamental principle of electrowetting on dielectric. The effect of reservoir structure on droplet generation performance was evaluated on the developed platform, and the influence of the number of parallel droplets on droplet actuation performance was analyzed. The experimental results demonstrated that the TC reservoir effectively reduced the minimum driving voltage required for droplet generation, with a maximum reduction of 14.70%, while the coefficient of variation of droplet volume decreased from 1.32% to 0.57%. Variations in the minimum driving voltage required for droplet transport and splitting, compared with the single-droplet case, remained within 1.5%, and the coefficient of variation of droplet volume after splitting consistently remained below 3% under conditions of up to seven parallel droplet groups.

Key words： digital microfluidic electrowetting on dielectric equivalent circuit of droplet droplet generation parallel droplet actuation edge detection

Received: 27 October 2025 Published: 21 October 2026

CLC:

TP 393

Fund: 江西省重点研发计划资助项目（20232BBE50017）；江西省自然科技基金资助项目（20232BAB215016）；江西省自然科学基金资助项目（20242BAB25358）；江西省研究生创新专项资助项目（YC2025-S349）.

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	Ming CAO
	Zuwei HUANG
	Huihong LIANG
	Wufeng DUAN
	Sujie YUAN
	Zhenmin XU
	Kui ZHOU

Cite this article:

Ming CAO,Zuwei HUANG,Huihong LIANG,Wufeng DUAN,Sujie YUAN,Zhenmin XU,Kui ZHOU. Multi-droplet parallel actuation for pin-constrained digital microfluidic system. Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science), 2026, 60(12): 2716-2724.

URL:

https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2026.12.017 OR https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/Y2026/V60/I12/2716

引脚受限数字微流控系统的多液滴并行驱动

针对数字微流控系统中通量受引脚数量制约的问题，设计并实现了引脚数量受限的数字微流控系统. 该系统使用模块化设计解耦控制回路与电极阵列，实现并行通道数量的可配置扩展. 基于介电润湿基本原理，分析单液滴与多液滴并行驱动机理的异同，并在本平台上考察储液槽对液滴生成性能的影响，以及并行液滴数量对液滴驱动性能的影响. 实验结果表明，TC储液槽可以有效降低液滴生成的最小驱动电压，最大降幅为14.70%；液滴体积变异系数由1.32%降低至0.57%. 当并行驱动最多7组液滴时，液滴运动与拆分所需的最小驱动电压相对于单液滴情况变化均不超过1.5%，拆分后液滴体积变异系数始终小于3%.

关键词： 数字微流控, 介电润湿, 液滴等效电路, 液滴生成, 并行液滴驱动, 边缘检测

Fig.1 Structure of common digital microfluidic chip

Fig.2 Equivalent and simplified models of closed digital microfluidic chip

Fig.3 Schematic diagram and equivalent circuit of electrode array

Fig.4 Schematic diagram of droplet parallel motion and channel crossing

Fig.5 Block diagram of digital microfluidic system architecture

Fig.6 Structure and photograph of digital microfluidic chip

Fig.7 Flowchart of bottom plate fabrication process

Fig.8 Flowchart of surface treatment process for ITO glass top plate

Fig.9 Droplet generation processes of different reservoirs

Fig.10 Minimum driving voltages required for droplet generation from different reservoirs

Tab.1 Mean and standard deviation of minimum driving voltage for different reservoirs at different time intervals (n = 10)

Tab.2 Effect of different reservoirs on droplet volume uniformity

Fig.11 Image processing workflow for droplet pixel quantification

Fig.12 Parallel droplet motion and comparison of minimum driving voltage

Fig.13 Parallel droplet merging and splitting and comparison of minimum driving voltage

Tab.3 Effect of droplet parallel number on uniformity of split droplet volume


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