Microfluidic analogy of the wheatstone bridge for systematic investigations of electro-osmotic flows

A microfluidic analogy of the electric Wheatstone Bridge has been developed for electrokinetic study of miscellaneous liquid-solid interfaces. By using an optimized glass-PDMS-glass device technology, microfluidic channels with well-controlled surface properties can be fabricated, forming an "H" shaped fluidic network. After solving a set of linear equations, the electro-osmotic flow rate in the center channel can be deduced from indirect measurement of flow rates in the lateral channels. Experimentally, we demonstrate that the electro-osmotic mobility can be monitored every 30 s with accuracy better than 3% for a large dynamic range of electric fields. The results obtained with a borosilicate glass (D-263) and several standard biological buffers are also shown to illustrate the capability of this high throughput method.