Volume 42, Issue 6 pp. 571-577
Concise Report

Hydrogel-Assisted Electrokinetics for High-Resolution and Non-invasive Flow Monitoring in Microfluidic Chips

Na Zhao

Na Zhao

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Yanni Ma

Yanni Ma

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Zehua Yu

Zehua Yu

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

Search for more papers by this author
Jun Huang

Corresponding Author

Jun Huang

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Xiangqian Fu

Xiangqian Fu

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

Search for more papers by this author
Tao Qiu

Corresponding Author

Tao Qiu

Department of Urology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

Department of Organ Transplantation, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Kang Liu

Corresponding Author

Kang Liu

MOE Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
First published: 01 November 2023

Dedicated to the 130th Anniversary of Wuhan University.

Comprehensive Summary

Convenient non-invasive flow monitoring would facilitate the operation and control in microfluidic chips, but is challenging due to the small space of microchannels and complex operation required in traditional optical methods. In this work, we propose a novel non-invasive strategy to probe microfluidic flows via streaming potential phenomenon. By sealing one side of the microchannel with a piece of hydrogel film, streaming potential inside the channel can be clearly detected by electrodes at outer surface of the hydrogel due to ion diffusion in the hydrogel. Flow is detected without sensors contacting with the internal liquid. Moreover, the electrodes shape like a tiny probe, which can move around mapping the flow distribution in a chip with the spatial resolution of 1 mm and flow rate detection limit of 3 μL·min–1. Bubbles inside the channels can also be detected, due to the fluctuation of streaming voltage when gas-liquid interface flows through the electrode, showing an easy and potential way for multi-functional flow monitoring in microfluidic chips.image

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.