Rechargeable and integrated nickel/metal hydride microbatteries for portable diagnostic and environmental monitoring devices

电子设备的小型化促进了现代信息技术的发展。小型化的概念也被应用于机械和流体元件，以发展微机电系统（MEMS）和微流体的多功能技术。MEMS通常可以定义为小型化的机电传感器和执行器系统（例如，安全气囊传感器），而微流体则处理小于一毫米的几何形状的流体处理。特别是在微流体领域，尺寸的缩小和多种功能的集成已经产生了远远超过传统系统的性能结构，并且具有以低成本批量生产的潜力。微流控技术包括所谓的即时检测，它提供了一种在患者现场进行医疗诊断的手段。也就是说，以前需要几个步骤、高技能人员和昂贵设备的诊断可以被微流体方法所取代，这种方法可以轻松地在家中进行实时定期测试。同样，微流控芯片实验室技术旨在将众多实验室功能集成在只有几平方厘米大小的微芯片上。一个典型的应用可能是在水源处监测饮用水中的病原体。然而，由于电源小型化的发展没有跟上步伐，这些设备的电力供应仍然是一个障碍。大多数微流控器件仍然由外部和超大的电源供电，导致一些问题，损害了小型化的优势。为微器件供电的一个有吸引力的方法似乎是在器件内使用嵌入式电源。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种基于镍/金属氢化物电化学的可充电集成微电池的开发和优化。因此，这种方法要求用最先进的微加工技术在通常用于微流体设备（如玻璃）的基板上制造微电池。这项研究计划最终将为各种应用建立一类新的集成电源，这将对MEMS和微流体器件的广泛领域产生巨大影响。这种便携式医疗诊断和环境监测系统的进一步发展将使加拿大的医疗保健系统直接受益，因为它可以在任何需要的地方提供负担得起和方便的定期检测。此外，该研究项目将提供独特的多学科培训环境，并通过培训高素质的工程师/科学家，帮助加拿大扩大“高科技”工作岗位。

The miniaturization of electronic devices enabled the development of modern information technologies. The concept of miniaturization has also been applied to mechanical and fluidic components to develop the versatile technologies of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Microfluidics. MEMS can be generally defined as systems of miniaturized electro-mechanical sensors and actuators (e.g. air bag sensors), while Microfluidics deals with fluid handling in geometries below a millimetre. Especially in the area of Microfluidics, the reduction in size and integration of multiple functions has produced structures with capabilities that far exceed those of conventional systems and also have the potential of being mass produced at a low cost. Microfluidic technologies include the so-called Point-of-Care Testing, which provides a means for healthcare diagnostics at the site of the patient. That is, diagnostics that previously required several steps, highly skilled personnel and expensive equipment can be replaced with microfluidic methods that generate easy access to regular testing in real-time that can be carried out in privacy at home. Likewise, the microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip technology aims to integrate a multitude of laboratory functions on a microchip of only a few square centimetres in size. A typical application could be the monitoring of pathogens in drinking water right at the source. However, the supply of electrical power to these devices continues to impose a barrier since the development of power source miniaturization has not kept the pace. The majority of microfluidic devices are still powered by external and oversized power supplies, leading to several problems which compromise the advantages of miniaturization. An attractive approach to power micro devices seems to be the use of embedded power sources within the device. In this research, we propose the development and optimization of a rechargeable, integrated microbattery based on the nickel/metal hydride electrochemistry. Consequently, this approach requires that the microbattery is manufactured with the state of the art microfabrication techniques onto substrates which are commonly used for microfluidic devices such as glass. This research program will ultimately establish a new class of integrated power sources for a variety of applications, which will potentially have a tremendous impact on the broad field of MEMS and Microfluidic devices. The further development of such systems for portable medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring will directly benefit the Canadian healthcare system by providing affordable and easy access to regular testing wherever it is required. Also, the research program will prove a unique multidisciplinary training environment and assist in the expansion of `high tech' jobs in Canada through the training of highly qualified engineers/scientists.