Modeling of Capillary Burst Valve and Siphon with Hydrophilic Cover for Centrifugal Microfluidic Systems

This paper reports numerical and experimental investigation of capillary burst valve and siphon, which were used in the centrifugal microfluidic systems widely. The simulation model is based on the solution of the minimum energy problem by the Surface Evolver software. In contrast to the solution of meniscus equilibrium equations, it can provide the appropriate boundary conditions for the microvalves with a hydrophilic flat cover. As an experimental verification, a centrifugal microfluidic device based on PDMS and glass was fabricated by soft lithography. The simulated results agree well with experimental data. The technology is useful for the design of microfluidic systems with complex wetting characters and geometries.