High-pressure stainless steel active membrane microvalves

In this work, high-pressure membrane microvalves have been designed, manufactured andevaluated. The valves were able to withstand back-pressures of 200 bar with a response timeof less than 0.6 s. These stainless steel valves, manufactured with back-end batch production,utilize the large volume expansion coupled to the solid–liquid phase transition in paraffin wax.When membrane materials were evaluated, parylene coated stainless steel was found to be thebest choice as compared to polydimethylsiloxane and polyimide. Also, the influence of theorifice placement and diameter is included in this work. If the orifice is placed too close to therim of the membrane, the valve can stay sealed even after turning the power off, and the valvewill not open until the pressure in the system is released. The developed steel valves, evaluatedfor both water and air, provide excellent properties in terms of mechanical stability, ease offabrication, and low cost. Possible applications include sampling at high pressures, chemicalmicroreactors, high performance liquid chromatography, pneumatics, and hydraulics.