Let’s say that syringe pumps can be divided in two categories. Classic syringe pumps, which are quite inexpensive but generate flow oscillations when dealing with microfluidics, and pulseless microfluidic syringe pumps, which are quite expensive but clearly offer better performances in terms of flow stability. In this tutorial, we will focus only on pulseless microfluidic syringe pumps. If you decide to use common syringe pumps, the information we provide in this tutorial will apply, but keep in mind the fact that your flows will not be stable at low flow rates.
The main advantage of syringes is that they are quite easy to use. The main weak point of pulseless syringe pumps is their responsiveness, since it depends on the microfluidics setup. Flow changes inside chips can take seconds to hours (see our tutorial on syringe pump responsiveness in microfluidics). This lack of reactivity is one of the main limitations of syringe pumps for numerous applications. However, in 2013 and 2014, new solutions can help to overcome these problems.
Strengths Syringe pumps generally allow fast setup for fluidic experiments. New pulseless syringe pumps may give you a flow stability below 1% The amount of dispensed liquid can be known for long term experiment (not during transient periods because of the flow rate uncertainty). Maximum pressure generated by a syringe pump can be at several hundred bars. (High pressure syringe pumps are not pulseless, but could be very usefull in nanofluidics). The mean flow rate in the device does not vary with eventual changes in the fluidic resistance of the device (except if the syringe pump stalls due to high pressure).
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