Jose, Read through some of the papers in the journal "Lab on a Chip." You'll find most systems use pressure driven flow unless there¹s a good reason to do otherwise. This is either done with a syringe and stepper motor, or gravity (if a very smooth flow is needed). I would suggest not getting more ³imaginative² with this than is necessary, as simple pressure driven flow can be annoying enough to implement well. :-) Also, if this is a 3-side PDMS, 1-side glass chip, avoid electroosmotic flow unless whatever you're doing can tolerate a lot of dispersion. You'll have different rates on the PDMS and glass walls, and the flow rate on the PDMS walls will vary based on how long it's been since they've been oxidized. You might want to check out these two short articles for some advice on PDMS interconnects for pressure-driven flow: http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/lc/Chips_and_Tips/integrated_reservoirs.a sp http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/lc/Chips_and_Tips/nanoport_bonding.asp Kevin Paul Nichols MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology Mesoscale Chemical Systems Meander 151 University of Twente Postbus 217 7500 AE Enschede The Netherlands Office: +31 (0)53 489 26 31 Mobile: +31 (0)6 49 312 471 Fax : +31 (0)53 489 35 95 Email : k.p.nichols@utwente.nl Web : http://mcs.tnw.utwente.nl/ > From: Jose Guevarra> Reply-To: , General MEMS discussion > > Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:39:48 -0400 > To: > Subject: [mems-talk] thermally driven flow in microfluidic channel > > Hi, > > I have a sheathed flow in a PDMS microchannel which will be bonded above > a glass substrate. What are some traditional ways of actuating the flow > within the channel? > > I was thinking of using a syringe but, I'd like to get a little more > imaginative than that. Perhaps thermal and maybe electroosmotic. > > Can anyone point me to some detailed setups that have worked?