Microfluidic transport by AC electroosmosis

Abstract

AC Electro-osmosis (ACEO) is a newly developed microfluidic mechanism, which can transport fluids and particles with low voltage that is suitable for integration with IC circuitry. We observed line formation of particles on electrodes by ACEO, leading to better understanding of ACEO microflows. Also by identifying a new ACEO mechanism from electrochemical reaction, we developed Asymmetric Polarization (A-P) ACEO technique, adding another dimension to ACEO. Both simulation and experiments have been performed to promote the understanding and optimization of ACEO devices. The experimental result of A-P ACEO is also presented in this paper. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.