Measurement of Burst Pressure of Capillary Burst Valve

Capillary burst valve (CBV), a counterpart to an elastomeric diaphragm microvalve, handles fluid in microchannels by capillarity. Thus, it avoids integration of mechanical components. We experimentally estimated the burst pressure, beyond which CBV cannot hold fluid, using fluids with distinct surface tensions in CBVs grafted with distinct surface constitutions in microchannels. We found that both the fluid surface tension and the solid surface constitution influence the burst pressure. The burst pressure reduces more significantly under the influence of the fluid surface tension.