Volume 11 Issue 1 ( March )

Porous media from filter paper utilizing capillary action is integrated in a self-powered micropump. Characteristic of fluid flow through porous media is a crucial parameter in the development of self-powered micropump with fabrication techniques of xurography and thermal lamination. In this work, the characterization of filter paper grades W40 and W41 was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and ImageJ software. The analyses yielded porosity of 70.82% for filter paper W41 and 70.24% for filter paper W40. In the experiments conducted, filter paper W41 resulted greater flow rate than W40 for both free and confined environments. The results are due to the greater pore size of filter paper grade W41 compared to W40. Analysis of pressure differential for filter paper grade W40 is 9.32 Pa in the free environment and 3.84 Pa when confined. Conversely, filter paper W41 exhibits lower pressure disparity of 1.92 Pa and 1.12 Pa in free and confined conditions, respectively. This research provides valuable insights into pressure generation within porous media from capillary action, thus offering potential benefits for the design of selfpowered micropumps.

Keywords: self-powered micropump; capillary action; porous media; xurography; thermal lamination