Microfluidic accessories, such as tubing, fittings and connectors are critical tools that strengthen experimental setups, making it possible to simplify and accelerate the discoveries of microfluidicists.
On this page, you will find an introduction to some of the basic principles of microfluidic tubing and sleeves.
Microfluidicists share common concerns, such as how to connect all the fluidic elements that make up their experimental setup in a simple and reliable way, and without any leakage to degrade the overall performance. Quality microfluidic accessories can thus have a big impact by giving researchers more flexibility and more time to assess their microfluidic concepts and strategies.
These microfluidic accessories fall into three broad categories:
This article is part of a series of short introductions to microfluidic accessories. Other tutorials will provide you more information on unions and adapters for microfluidics, and microfluidic fittings and connectors. To learn more about the tubing and accessories offered by Elveflow, click here.
So, let’s start with some basic information about tubing and sleeves.
Tubing allows you to link the multiple parts of your microfluidic setup: your fluid actuation device (a syringe pump, a peristaltic pump, an Elveflow AF1 or OB1 Pressure Controller) and the reservoirs, containers or sample chambers in which your liquids are stored. All of this is complemented by various additional elements such as injection valves or restrictors…
There are several parameters with which you should become familiar in order to make the right choice for your particular experimental needs.
When selecting microfluidic tubing for use with fittings, the following factors should be kept in mind:
In order of increasing size…
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When your tubing is too small to be used with your fitting, you need to play around with the ID and OD values to find a sleeve that can successfully connect your capillary tubing into the receiving port.
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The resistivity of a tube or circular channel is a function of the inner diameter and length. The ID of the tubing has a key impact on the flow resistance. Tubes with a very small ID values (500 µm ID and below), often presented as capillary tubing, can lead to a surprisingly high flow resistance. Length also plays an important role in the resistivity of the tubing. These notions can be used to increase the resistivity in order to enhance the flow rate stability. Indeed, a simple flow resistance can help you reach low flow rates within a low fluidic resistance setup. If you’re working with droplets, you may be dealing with flow rate instability and pressure variations created by droplet generation. Our Microfluidic Flow Resistance Kit is a simple and fast solution to implement, allowing you more time to focus on what really matters, your science!
Knowing the material from which certain types of tubing have been manufactured is particularly important for the quality of the connection you are making.
Let’s be honest: the perfect material doesn’t exist. You will very often have to choose between pressure resistance and chemical resistance. Therefore you should be very careful about to the nature of the reagents that will flow through your tubing. In our microfluidic kits section, we propose a specific section dedicated to microfluidic tubing. Regardless of whether it is a matter of fluid transport, fluidic resistance, or Syringe Pump Flow Stabilizer Microfluidic Kit our selection of tubing will bring you complete satisfaction. They are available for an extremely broad range of applications, from general purpose liquid dispensing to droplet microfluidics and syringe pump improvement.
Some of the most commonly used tubing materials in microfluidic instrumentation setups are:
Do you want tips on how to best set up your microfluidic experiment? Do you need inspiration or a different angle to take on your specific problem? Well, we probably have an application note just for you, feel free to check them out!
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