Nanofluidic device with self-assembled nafion membrane utilizing capillary valve

In this paper, a PDMS-based nanofluidic device for ICP (ion concentration polarization) was designed, fabricated and tested. In this device, a Nafion membrane, which acted as a network of nanochannels and provided paths for particular ions to migrate between main channel and buffer channel, was formed in 20μm-wide microchannel using capillary valve structure. Ion concentration polarization effect was observed when a voltage of 80 volts was applied across the Nafion junction. The fabrication process was simple and inexpensive. The manipulation of cells movement was successfully demonstrated using our PDMS micro-chip.