Ac Field Effect Flow Control of Eof in Complex Microfluidic Systems with Integrated Electrodes

This paper presents a novel method to control Electro Osmotic Flow (EOF) with AC electrical fields. It is shown that with a single potential the zeta potential at a solid liquid interface and the channel potential that drives the EOF can be controlled in a synchronized matter to create a net flow with zero average potential. The frequency regime in which the EOF can be controlled is bound by the capacitive charging of the Electrical Double Layer (EDL) as an upper limit and the formation of bubbles at the open channel electrodes by electrolysis as a lower limit.