A description of ion transport through geometrically defined nanoslits is presented. It is characterized by the effective surface charge density and was obtained by impedance spectroscopy measurements of electrolytes with different physicochemical properties. The fluid channels were fabricated in a Pyrex–Pyrex field assisted bonding process with an intermediate layer of amorphous silicon. The height of the nanoslits was defined by the 50nm thickness of the amorphous silicon layer. Two microfluidic channels, containing electrodes for the characterization of the nanoslits, maintained fresh liquid on both sides of the nanoapertures. By changing the KCl concentration of the electrolyte, a conductance plateau (in log–log scale) was observed due to the dominance of the effective surface charge density, resulting in an excess of mobile counterions in the nanoslits at low salt concentrations. The effective surface charge density of the Pyrex nanoslits could be modified by changing the pH of the solution. It was verified that at higher pH values the nanoslit conductance increased. Field-effect experiments allowed changing the effective surface charge density as well. The polarity of the external voltage could be chosen such that the effective surface charge density was increased or decreased, resulting in a higher or lower nanoslit conductance. This regulation of ionic flow can be exploited for the fabrication of nanofluidic devices.

Using the concept of insulator-based "electrodeless" dielectrophoresis, we present a novel geometry for shaping electric fields to achieve lateral deviation of particles in liquid flows. The field is generated by lateral planar metal electrodes and is guided along access channels to the active area in the main channel. The equipotential surfaces at the apertures of the access channels behave as vertical "liquid" electrodes injecting the current into the main channel. The field between a pair of adjacent liquid electrodes generates the lateral dielectrophoretic force necessary for particle manipulation. We use this force for high-speed deviation of particles. By adding a second pair of liquid electrodes, we focus a particle stream. The position of the focused stream can be swept across the channel by adjusting the ratio of the voltages applied to the two pairs. Based on conformal mapping, we provide an analytical model for estimating the potential at the liquid electrodes and the field distribution in the main channel. We show that the simulated particle trajectories agree with observations. Finally, we show that the model can be used to optimize the device geometry in different applications.

Contamination with arsenic is a recurring problem in both industrialized and developing countries. Drinking water supplies for large populations can have concentrations much higher than the permissible levels (for most European countries and the United States, 10 μg As per L; elsewhere, 50 μg As per L). Arsenic analysis requires high-end instruments, which are largely unavailable in developing countries. Bioassays based on genetically engineered bacteria have been proposed as suitable alternatives but such tests would profit from better standardization and direct incorporation into sensing devices. The goal of this work was to develop and test microfluidic devices in which bacterial bioreporters could be embedded, exposed and reporter signals detected, as a further step towards a complete miniaturized bacterial biosensor. The signal element in the biosensor is a nonpathogenic laboratory strain of Escherichia coli, which produces a variant of the green fluorescent protein after contact to arsenite and arsenate. E. coli bioreporter cells were encapsulated in agarose beads and incorporated into a microfluidic device where they were captured in 500 × 500 μm(2) cages and exposed to aqueous samples containing arsenic. Cell-beads frozen at -20 °C in the microfluidic chip retained inducibility for up to a month and arsenic samples with 10 or 50 μg L(-1) could be reproducibly discriminated from the blank. In the 0-50 μg L(-1) range and with an exposure time of 200 minutes, the rate of signal increase was linearly proportional to the arsenic concentration. The time needed to reliably and reproducibly detect a concentration of 50 μg L(-1) was 75-120 minutes, and 120-180 minutes for a concentration of 10 μg L(-1).

This paper describes the design, fabrication and experimental results of a new, low cost, high-performance silicon micropump developed for a disposable drug delivery system. The pump chip demonstrates linear and accurate (&so/,) pumping characteristics for flow rates up to 2 ml/h with intrinsic insensitivity to extemal conditions. The stroke volume of 160 nl is maintained constant by the implementation of a double limiter acting on the pumping membrane. The actuator is dissociated from the pump chip.The chip is a stack of three layers, two Pyrex wafers anodically bonded to the central silicon wafer. The technology is based on the use of SO1 technology, silicon D R E and the sacrificial etch of the buried oxide in order to release the structures. The result is a small size chip, suitable for cost-effective manufacturing in high volume.

Summary Whole‐cell bacterial bioreporters are proposed as alternatives to chemical analysis of, for example, pollutants in environmental compartments. Commonly based on reporter gene induction, bioreporters produce a detectable signal within 30 min to a few hours after exposure to the chemical target, which is impractical for applications aiming at a fast response. In an attempt to attain faster readout but maintain flexibility of chemical targeting, we explored the concept for quantitative chemical sensing by bacterial chemotaxis. Chemotaxis was quantified from enrichment of cells across a 600 µm‐wide chemical gradient stabilized by parallel flow in a microfluidic chip, further supported by transport and chemotaxis steady state and kinetic modelling. As proof‐of‐concept, we quantified Escherichia coli chemotaxis towards serine, aspartate and methylaspartate as a function of attractant concentration and exposure time. E. coli chemotaxis enrichment increased sharply between 0 and 10 µM serine, before saturating at 100 µM. The chemotaxis accumulation rate was maximal at 10 µM serine, leading to observable cell enrichment within 5 min. The potential application for biosensing of environmental toxicants was investigated by quantifying chemotaxis of Cupriavidus pinatubonensis JMP134 towards the herbicide 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetate. Our results show that bacterial chemotaxis can be quantified on a scale of minutes and may be used for developing faster bioreporter assays.