Nanoelectrokinetic radial preconcentrator/extractor based on ion concentration polarization

Abstract

This paper reported the experimental demonstration of a radial preconcentrator/extractor in a micro/nanofluidic platform based on ion concentration polarization (ICP) phenomena. While various biomolecular preconcentration mechanisms have been developed for BioMEMS applications, an integration with downstream analyzer or an efficient recovery of concentrated sample still remain challenging. Here we designed a simple radial device without complex channel network and one can complete sample preparation steps from the preconcentration of samples to the recovery of concentrated samples with this single platform. Various charged species such as fluorescent dye, dsDNA and polystyrene microparticle are exemplified for the process (preconcentration factor ∼ 10 and throughput ∼ 1 μL/min). This simple device configuration would serve a key component for point-of-care-test applications and biomedical analysis tools.